Solstice
by hufflepuffbrunette247
Summary: 3 yrs after BD, mix btwn Twilight and one of my personal stories meaning several OCs. Kelsey Jacobs has never had a normal life, but when she finds out she's a werewolf, she thinks it's the icing on the cake. Only it's not.
1. Intro

Hi people! The vast majority of these characters and settings belong to the brilliant mind of Stephenie Meyer. One belongs to Ravenclawblonde1428, but the rest belong to me :) Oh, and the little dramatic thing directly below, it's not adressed to you, it's just dramatic. Yes, the intro is important. You didn't think I'd just throw you into a mixed story with no background on half of it did you?

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Summer solstice is the one day of the year when the Earth is pulled in close by the sun's gravity causing the longest day of the year. No one knows why gravity exists. It just does. Pulling things in, protecting them. Kind of like how you somehow always manage to keep me close to you.

Intro

The woman tried to look casual as she walked into the library. She flipped her long, dark, hair out of her eyes, but yet again it fell and clung to her face on the sticky May afternoon. She carefully balanced the large handbag over her shoulder, trying to keep its contents from making too much noise. Her hand fell over the soft material once again and felt the abnormal lump. She was pretty sure that was the head. She bit her lip, once again trying to decide if this was the right thing to do, but this was the only choice now.

Maybe if she had told her parents earlier, they could have arranged something different, but she was several states away from them, her pregnancy was so easy to hide with excuses of travel costs and study needs, and now it was too late. The baby girl slept soundly, cushioned in blankets at the bottom of the bag. Besides, what would they think of her? Sleeping with a frat boy, getting pregnant, they'd eat her and the baby alive. She was the first one in her family to go to college, she'd have to quit, they'd be so disappointed in her, and she didn't have any thing near the financial means to raise a child on her own. It was easier for everyone this way.

Finally reaching the small section on Native American folklore, tucked in between the religious literature and atlases, it was rarely visited, she pulled the sleeping infant out of the bag. She looked so peaceful now, not like when she had first been born in the dorm room, screeching and flailing, and unintentionally doing everything possible to get her caught. Her eyes were now seamlessly shut, her face smooth and relaxed with rosy red cheeks, her hair swirled in little dark brown tufts, resembling her father's curls. It was better to leave her this way, have the last image of her daughter be a peaceful one. From her pocket she pulled out the note, handwritten in pink pen on notebook paper. She knew that typing the letter would make it harder for her to be found out, but she couldn't bear to leave her baby with nothing to go on, even if it was just the way she wrote letters.

She moved a few books and gently placed the baby in the hole she had made. "I'm sorry it had to be this way," she whispered, "Good luck Kelsey. I love you."

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Kelsey Michaels, named after the library she was found in, grew up a foster child, moving from home to home ranging from nearly perfect, to abusive. Finally, when she was eleven years old, Kelsey found the right match with Rosalie and Collin Jacobs, neighbors of one of Kelsey's former foster parents. She lived happily with them for two years and was finally adopted within that time period. Tragically though, on way the hospital so Rosalie could deliver her first biological child, the family got in a car crash. Rosalie died as the result of internal injuries, leaving Kelsey and Collin to raise the new baby, Abby.

While Kelsey's life had never been normal, our story begins two years later, when her life takes a turn to the fantastical.

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Hey! You're back! Well, if you made it this far thanks for reading! Also check out the companion story (set a few years earlier) "Can't Keep Me Away" by ravenclawblonde1428. Please review :)


	2. A Twist in My Story

Hi again...we have established that most of the characters are not mine and I will not repeat myself about that again. So here is the actual chapter one

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I felt tense as Abby and I walked through the woods on the warm summer day. I had been feeling strange all week, always cold, like I had a fever, and I had been feeling horribly a week ago, achy, feverish, just horrible, but I didn't feel sick anymore. In fact it seemed as if I was faster, stronger, and more alert than usual. I'd been eating a lot more though, and luckily it was summer because it seemed as if I had been growing two inches a day when I was feeling like crap, Collin said it was just a growth spurt, but my jeans would only reach halfway down my calves at this point. I stopped once again as Abby toddled along, staring at anything that happened to catch her attention. Something didn't feel right. It felt like we were being followed. A rustling in the trees, a crunch of the leaves on the ground, a bird fluttering off into the distance, everything put me on edge, but Abby seemed oblivious.

Suddenly a white blur flashed around us, and Abby was gone. I panicked as a sickly sweet scent filled the air. I covered my nose as I spun, around, trying to figure out where Abby was hiding. When the little girl didn't jump out from behind a tree, I started to panic. An instinct told me to follow the scent that was burning my nose. I ran much faster than I ever knew I could, even with the sudden growth spurt last week nothing compared to the rate at which the trees were rushing by. The scent grew stronger as I approached a clearing. A gorgeous man with long strawberry blonde hair and the palest face I had ever seen had Abby mesmerized in his arms. I didn't know what was going on, but something told her we were in danger. I darted toward the man, but he was faster. We chased up and down the trees, all around the forest, if I wasn't so focused on my target, I would have been amazed at myself.

Suddenly the man stopped and a devilish grin came across his face. He brought Abby up to his face, his mouth neared her neck. Before I knew it a single convulsion seized me and I was suddenly on all fours, but all I could think about was killing the beast as I hurled myself at the man, finally a fear evident in his blood red eyes. He dropped Abby with an ungraceful plop, but she landed safely in the leaves. I brought the man to the ground, and with the savageness of an animal with its prey, I mercilessly tore him apart, completely unthinking of the consequences. As soon as I was sure I'd completely obliterated him, I turned my attention to Abby, sitting petrified in the leaves, eyes the size of saucers. I walked over to her, but she shrunk back.

"It's okay, he's gone now," I tried to say, but all that came out was a bark. I leapt back to see that the reason I was on all fours was that I no longer had hands and feet, but four oversized gray paws. While this didn't nearly frighten me as much as when Abby was in the clutches of the monster, this too sent me into a panic. I ran in circles, literally howling, because somehow, I had turned into a wolf. It wasn't until Abby got up and started to toddle off as fast as her little legs could carry her that I realized I had to calm down and figure out what the heck was happening. It was hardly an effort to chase after Abby and gently put her on my back. I didn't know what I was going to do, but it would be helpful if Abby didn't run off. The first order of business, I figured, was to get out of here. But where to go? Collin certainly wouldn't react well to his daughter riding on the back of a wolf, and I didn't know how to turn back, or why I had turned into a wolf in the first place. It made no sense. Suddenly I heard other voices in my head. "Calm down, Kelsey. It's okay. This is perfectly normal, don't worry," they said. "Where are you?"

I didn't know whether to answer or not. Surely I had become insane from some disease and was just having a hallucination that I had become a wolf.

"This isn't a hallucination," one male voice said, somehow I knew that he was a leader and that his name was Sam.

"Didn't your parents have the sense to tell you our tribal legends?" another cut in, he also had a leader-like intonation and somehow I knew his name was Jacob.

I decided that if I was going crazy I may as well talk to the voices in her head, but the voices interrupted again.

"You're such an idiot Jacob!" a female voice scolded. Again, I suddenly knew that the voice, Leah, had been in a bad relationship with Sam, and was bitter about it. I also knew that Leah didn't like Jacob, but that was obvious.

"It's not my fault…I didn't know. It's not like people go around shouting 'Hey! Guess what guys! I'm pregnant, but I'm going to abandon the baby so people don't look down on me!'" Jacob said.

"Just stay out of this," Sam said sternly, "where are you Kelsey?"

"Greenville…Greenville, North Dakota," I finally said, beating the voices to the answer.

"NORTH DAKOTA???" Jacob shouted.

"GO HOME JACOB!" Leah and Sam shouted back.

"Okay…sorry, usually people from our tribe stay on the reservation. Actually you're the first person off the reservation to turn. Sorry you had to take him alone. So you have a little girl with you right?" Sam asked.

"That's right, Abby."

"Okay, just take Abby home and come back here, I'll give you orders from there," Sam instructed, but suddenly I felt a change in plans. "Sorry again, but I just found out that the vampire you took, Henry, he's a tracker, he lives for the hunt, and what he wants now is Abby, so it would actually be dangerous for you to take her back to the house. She'll have to come with you."

Suddenly a motion caught my attention. Henry's detached hand was crawling across the ground.

"He's reassembling himself. Run away, we'll come find you."

I took off like a gun, running deeper and deeper into the woods, only stopping if I felt Abby's grip loosen. We ran for hours and hours, my only concern being getting Abby away from that beast.

"Kesey, I've gotta go potty!" Abby finally whined, now used to the fact that her older sister had turned into a wolf. I hesitantly let Abby down, and paced circles around her while she took a break. "I'm hungry." Abby complained.

I barked "unless you want to be the meal we better leave," was what I said knowing she wouldn't understand, and put her back between my shoulder blades where she had nestled nicely. We continued to run into the night, and when my muscles ached, I pushed them twice as hard. I couldn't let down, there would be no sleeping tonight if I couldn't make it to Washington, where the pack lived, or meet Seth and Leah, who were planning to pick me up, along the way.

"Still going down the 401?" Seth asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Good. You're handling this so well, you know, Sam ran wild for weeks before he could even put together a thought. But then, he was the first one, there was no one to help him, but still, you've done better than most of us."

"It's not like I had much of a choice," I replied.

"Wait! I think I can see you now! Yeah! That's you, no other wolf would have a sleeping child on their back. We're going to pull over."

The old blue van pulled to the side of the road next to her. A light brown wolf jumped out of the back seat and walked up to them.

"Hey! I'm Seth, you're obviously Kelsey…"

"Can we just go?" I asked. MY main concern was still that Henry was following us.

"Alright. I'm sure you're tired. Get some rest. Leah brought some clothes incase you change back in the car," Seth said as I jumped into the car. Abby had fallen asleep, so I lightly placed her on the seat, making sure to buckle the seat belt. "It's okay now," Seth said, "now that we're in the car it'll be nearly impossible for him to follow us by scent, he'll have to figure out that we're in Forks, and by the time he gets there, we'll have all the troops out. There are a lot of us wolves, including you, and there are these vampires…"

"I thought vampires were our enemies," I interjected.

"Usually they are, but the Cullens have signed a peace treaty, they don't drink human blood and stay off our land, and we don't rip them to shreds. They're 'vegetarian' vampires, which means they only drink animal blood. We've actually fought off an army of newborns before, so this really should be no problem, we'll have you home by tomorrow, day after at the most, and you can say you just got lost in the woods," Seth explained. It was a comforting thought, but somehow I didn't think that Henry would be dead and I'd be all changed back by the day after tomorrow.

I lay down on the floor of the car and slowly fell asleep. My usual nightmare began. I was driving the car at thirteen years old. Somehow I always knew how to get to the hospital, but every time, a scream from behind would startle me. I knew it would happen, I knew my hands would swerve to the right as my eyes left the road ahead to see if Rosalie was alright, I knew that just before I could see Rosalie's face the blackness would come. The screaming would continue, accompanied by the crunching metal, but I couldn't see, I couldn't help, Rosalie would die and there was nothing I could do. The fateful road approached, the lamppost came into sight, then came the scream.

My head swerved back, but something kept her my straight this time. Big warm hands guided mine. I didn't crash, but everything faded to white. Finally Rosalie's face came into view. We were no longer in the car. We were in the hospital, Rosalie holding her baby contentedly. I didn't dare get closer. I was fine just to watch, to not wake up crying or screaming, just to gaze on the face I hadn't seen in two years. I felt the same warm hands that had stopped me turn into warm arms which enveloped me. So there I stayed, watching Rosalie and Abby in the maternity ward for what seemed like forever, comfortable in the arms of the shadowy figure behind me. A warm happiness filled me to an extent I hadn't felt for a long time, my worries and fears melted away.

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Yay! Well, I hoped you enjoyed it, I forgot to say that this is my first published fanfiction so please feel free to review and remember to check out "Can't Keep Me Away" Thanks!

hufflepuffbrunette :)


	3. Gravity

Hello again! Thank you guys so much for your comments I really appreciate it! Well here is the next chapter. I'm gonna try to post every Friday until I run out of chapters in my arsenal (at which time hopefully I'll have written some more chapters). There's a big event in here so I'll let you get reading!

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Chapter 2.

The transition from dream to reality was slow, surreal, but painful. I realized her dream wasn't real, I could gaze all I wanted now, but I'd have to wake up, remember that Rosalie had died, remember that I had turned into a wolf and that Abby was being hunted by a sadistic, nearly invincible vampire. The knowledge of the real world ruined the serenity of my dream and I decided to wake up instead of torturing myself like this.

But waking up didn't provide the relief I was hoping for. The warm arms were still around me. I realized that I had changed back into a human; the voices were out of my head, that must have been a pack mentality thing. Seth had obviously changed too; we were both in a bed, in an unfamiliar room. I could hear Seth breathing lightly on my neck, feel his chest against my back, his arms around my waist, and in my final step into consciousness, I realized I was naked. Seth had shorts on, but I was still naked, in bed, with a boy.

I finally spotted Leah's clothes on the floor beside the bed and hurriedly got out of bed and put them on, keeping my eyes away from Seth in embarrassment. I quickly left the room to find Abby and get an explanation as to why I randomly turned into a wolf in response to a creature that didn't exist.

"Hey! You're up!" said another, half naked, muscular boy. He pulled his shoulder length, black, hair into a pony tail. "I'm Jacob. Sorry about being a jerk yesterday, but you might as well get used to it," he said with a crooked smile.

"Can you just tell me where the bathroom is?" I asked, annoyed with Jacob; I'd just met him and I already didn't like him.

"Alright, it's the last room to the left before you hit the kitchen," Jacob said, making his way around me.

After I had made myself as presentable as possible, I shyly walked into the kitchen where I immediately recognized Leah, but there was another girl, a little older than Leah, playing with Abby on the floor.

"Kesey!" Abby squealed, running into my arms. It felt so good to have her back. "No more doggy, okay?" she asked.

"I don't know baby, I'll try, okay?"

"'kay," Abby said, burying her head in my shoulder. I kissed her on the top of the head and ran my fingers through her hair. I was glad that yesterday didn't seem to have affected her too badly.

"Hey, have a seat, I'll get you some breakfast," Leah said, walking over to a closet that was obviously the pantry. "Rachel , did the boys eat all the food again?" she asked.

"Yeah. Sorry. We've got some cereal left though."

"Okay…sorry, we'd give you some real food, but apparently our brothers…"

"Brothers?" I interrupted, the last time I checked I didn't know my own parentage, so how could they?

"Pack brothers, but don't worry, we'll find out if you have any biological brothers, but anyway…" Just then Jacob walked in.

"Hey Leah, do we have anything else to eat?" he asked.

"Not for you. As I was just saying, you and Paul were such horrible hosts by eating all the food except for the…Raisin Bran Crunch, gee such good cereal you left her," Leah nagged.

"The Raisin Bran Crunch is mine!" said a man in a wheelchair as he maneuvered down the hall. "Oh, hello, I'm Billy Black, the father of these hooligans,"

"Hi, I'm Kelsey, Kelsey Jacobs, haha…ironic," Kelsey said, finally remembering my manners.

"Billy, Jacob and Paul ate everything but the Raisin Bran Crunch before Kelsey even got up," Leah said.

"Oh, well then you're welcome to have some, I was just about to have a bowl myself," Billy said pulling up to the empty space at the table.

"Thank you so much for letting me stay here," I said quietly, pouring a bowl of cereal.

"Certainly, I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise, now I'm guessing you really want to know what's going on don't you?"  
I nodded.

"I guess I'll have to start at the beginning won't I?" Billy laughed. "You, my dear, are at least part Quileute, I'd say at least half. The Quileutes are descended from spirit warriors, able to leave their bodies to defend the tribe. This worked well, until during the reign of the last great chief, Taha Aki, there was a jealous warrior named Utlapa. One day when Taha Aki was out of his body, Utlapa left his body and took Taha Aki's. He then mangled his own body so Taha Aki had no body to return to and he could be chief, but the wolf had more than enough room for Taha Aki's spirit, and they merged. Taha Aki defeated Utlapa in the wolf body, and this created what we know as "werewolves" or "shape shifters" today."

"Taha Aki passed the ability to turn into a wolf down to his children, and they found that as long as a man continued to use his wolf form, he did not age. Taha Aki outlived two lives, but his third wife, she was his soulmate, and he gave up his wolf form so he could age and die with her. But soon after that the cold ones, or vampires, came. Taha Aki and his children struggled to defeat the cold ones, but because the only way they could be killed was being ripped into pieces and burned, it was very difficult, and Taha Aki lost many sons to the cold ones."

"One day there was a female vampire, she was ferocious, and an excellent fighter, Taha Aki was older than he used to be, and was losing the fight against the cold woman, his third wife, desperate to save his life, cut herself to distract the vampire. It worked, but the third wife was killed. Taha Aki stayed by her body in his wolf form for a day, then ran into the forest, never to return to his human form, and that is why we turn when the cold ones are around. Usually the cold ones roam alone, or with a mate, which helps keep the pack small, but nearby, there is a family of nine vampires, and one half vampire, so our pack has gotten much larger. I'm surprised that you turned though, I'd think that because you're only half Quileute the wolf would be recessive."

"It was kind of an emergency," I mumbled, I couldn't believe all this. I was being told that because of some guy who lived hundreds of years ago, I was a mutant wolf freak.

"Of course it was, you probably wouldn't have even noticed the cold one if he hadn't gone after your child."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, Abby isn't…my…um…daughter. She's my little sister…kind of. Adoptive little sister if you want to get technical," I said blushing. It had been a while since I had gotten that one. It was horrible when we first moved to Greenville.

"Oh, I didn't think about that. Your parents must be very worried," Billy said gravely.

"Yeah, I'm sure my dad has called the police already," I said. I hadn't really thought about Collin. All I had been concerned with was keeping Abby safe, and there wasn't really anything I could do at that moment, but as I thought about him, my heart hurt for him, this must be his worst nightmare just like mine was losing Abby. "Can I call him?" I asked.

"Yes, but tell him nothing about being a wolf, and don't tell him where you are. Is that clear? Be as vague as possible."

"Why? I asked, near to tears. All I wanted to do now was have Collin come and take us home. I didn't care what the punishment was; I would do anything to be back home now.

"If he takes you two back home, he'll only be putting himself and Abby in danger," Billy warned, "The pack can protect you best here."

I picked up the phone from the table and nervously dialed. I gave Abby to Leah and went over in the corner as the phone rang.

"Hello?" answered a weary Collin.

"Dad?" I said.

"Oh my god! Where are you! Are you and Abby okay? I've been so worried. I've just…it's like…you just don't know how worried I've been. I even called the police. Can you come home or do I need to come get you?" Collin said all at once.

"That's just it dad," I started, "I can't come home right now, and I can't tell you where we are, and I can't tell you why. All I can say is that Abby and I are fine, dad; please don't come looking for us okay?" I felt myself starting to break.

"What? No! Are you in trouble? What happened? Who has you?" he sputtered.

"I'm sorry dad, I want to come home, you don't know how much I just want to come home. But I can't now. Don't come looking, you'll only put yourself in danger," I said as tears came to my eyes Why couldn't he just understand?.

"Kelsey, listen to me! If you're really in trouble just tell me. If this is some teenage escapade of rebellion though, then you'll really be in trouble," Collin said, anger rising in his voice.

"I can't explain it to you, dad, but if you knew, you'd agree that, for now, this is best. You just have to trust me. Hopefully we'll be back by tomorrow, but I can't make any promises. I love you," I sobbed. I knew I'd have to end it soon or else I'd give in.

"Kelsey! Why? What? I don't understand. Please, just tell me, you and Abby are all I have left," I could hear his voice shaking, I couldn't take it, I couldn't bear to be on the phone one more second, but I had to say goodbye.

"I…I…I can't. I want to…so bad…I miss you…I want to go home. But we can't. I have to protect you; you and Abby are all I have left too. I have to go now, okay?"

"No! Wait! Just stay on the phone with me," he pleaded.

"Bye dad. We love you," I whispered as I pressed the "End" button. I shook with sobs. My whole body filled with rage. I couldn't stand the vampires, who kept me away from home and put my family in danger. I couldn't stand my biological mother, for putting me in this mess. What was she thinking? I couldn't stand anybody or anything. I just wanted to go out and kill Henry myself and just get it over with. I felt the convulsion take her again; the clothes ripped around me as I bent back into wolf form, my sense of smell sharpening, my ears becoming more efficient. I was ready to take on the world. Everyone rushed in around me, several people, some as wolves, held me down as I struggled, growling and barking and scratching. Blood trickled down onto her nose.

Suddenly, I felt familiar warm arms around me. I felt myself being picked up, even as I kicked and howled. Seth took me back to the bedroom and laid me back on the bed. I tried to get up, but he held me down, stroking my head and rubbing my back.

"It's okay now, it's okay. Shhh…" he whispered.

I finally slowed down, first I stopped kicking, then I slowed my howling to a soft whimper.

"That's a good girl. There you go," he said, "now try and turn back, just focus on turning back."

I closed her eyes and focused on my human self. I felt my fur coat fall away, My hair fell back on my shoulders, my paws turned back into hands and feet. When I knew I was back to my human self I opened my eyes.

Tears still fell down my face, but when I finally looked at Seth, everything became a little bit better. It didn't seem so bad anymore. As long as I had Seth, everything would be fine. It seemed crazy, I had hardly met the boy, but his face, his gentle smile, his loving brown eyes, they just seemed to make everything worth living for. It almost felt like he was keeping me from simply blowing away into a meaningless oblivion of life. It was like everything before this was just a preview, just a rehearsal to get her ready for this, the rest of my life, starting now, with Seth.

He wrapped a blanket around me, then pulled me into his arms and held me close. I leaned on his chest and simply listened to his heartbeat while I finished out my tears.

"Okay…you're naked…you probably need to put some clothes on," Seth finally said once I was completely calm.

"Oh, yeah…this is awkward," I mumbled. I'd been so overwhelmed with feeling for him though, I didn't care. Somehow I knew he felt the same way about me. I felt a bit saddened as he got off the bed, averting his eyes, as I watched him go.

A few minutes later Leah came in with more clothes in hand. Her soft eyes reminded her of Seth's; I realized they were brother and sister.

"Sorry I ruined your clothes," I said. I was really being a horrible guest.

"Oh, it's alright. I'm sure that's not the last set of clothes you'll ruin. We'll go shopping tomorrow okay?" Leah said softly.

"Seth said I'd be home by then," I said as I pulled a shirt over my head.

"Well, if you're not, we'll go shopping. Did you know we're the only girls in the pack?" Leah said warmly. It seemed like she enjoyed the company.

"What about Rachel?" I asked.

"Well, being Jacob's sister, I guess she technically could turn, but she hasn't yet. The only reason she even knows about us is that Paul imprinted on her."

"Imprint?"

"Do you remember when Billy told you Taha Aki and his third wife were soul mates?"

I nodded.

"What he really meant was that Taha Aki imprinted on her. Imprinting only happens for wolves, it's supposed to be very rare, but most us have imprinted already. It's supposedly when you see your soul mate, you immediately know it. Quil says it's like the person is the only thing holding you to the earth and nothing else matters. You'd do anything for them, be anything for them. If something were to happen to them it would just about kill you. There's nothing more you want than their happiness."

"Is that what happened to you and Sam?" I asked. "Did he imprint on someone else?"

Leah sighed. "Yes Kelsey. He imprinted on my cousin Emily. How did you know that though?"

"I could just sort of tell, like how you all knew my name. You know, right after I changed…did that actually happen or was I just hallucinating?"

"Oh, that, right. You see, because we're part wolf, when we're in wolf form, we have a sort of pack mentality and everyone knows what everyone else is thinking, that's how you knew our names and we knew yours. Sam and Jacob are the Alphas though, Seth and I are in Jacob's pack…" Leah explained.

At the mentioning of Seth's name the pieces came together. I realized that I had imprinted on Seth.

"Leah…" I started timidly.

"I know, Seth told me last night. He imprinted on you. That's why we let him sleep in the bed with you and help you change back. Congratulations, as much as he gets on my nerves sometimes he really is a great guy."

"Yes, but Leah…wait? He imprinted on me too?"

"You imprinted on him? When…I mean, I guess it makes sense, but…wow, I didn't know girls could do that, he'll be thrilled," Leah smiled.

On one hand, it was really cool. I had a soul-mate, we were made for each other, like puzzle pieces, and it was so comforting to know someone couldn't bear to leave me, it felt almost as good as the first time I really knew I wasn't going to another foster home, that Rosalie and Collin wouldn't ever let me go.

"I'm kind of scared though," was the other hand. I didn't even know him. How could I possibly explain this to Collin when I came back with my new soul-mate as I knew I wouldn't be able to leave without Seth. It was like I was letting all of my choices go. I hadn't been yearning for this like I had been yearning for a real home.

"I know this all has happened so fast, Kelsey. I'm sure this is absolutely no fun for you, but there's no need to be scared. We're your family now too, and we'll fight to the death alongside you no matter what. We love you," Leah said collecting me in a hug.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Sure thing sis," Leah said getting up off the bed. "You ready to go?" she asked.

I nodded and got up off the bed. This was all crazy. Had I really just narrowed down her parentage possibilities, found out I was a werewolf, and met my soul-mate in the past twenty four hours? Was my life just going in fast forward? Was I going to die soon? No. Billy had said when a person was in their wolf form they stopped aging, and Leah said the pack would protect me to the death. Could this be possible? I didn't know how to feel, on the one hand, I was thrilled, all I wanted to do was be with Seth and the pack, but on the other hand, Collin's words echoed in my head. I hated making him hurt like that. I hated that Abby couldn't sleep in her own bed and had to eat Raisin Bran Crunch because there was no other food in the house. I started to feel myself shake, my fists clench.

"Whoa! Take a breath…breathe now…just relax," Leah said immediately rushing to me. "There you go. Good job," she said as my shoulders finally fell. "I guess I forgot to mention, at first if you lose your temper, you turn into a wolf, so it's important for you to try and control your anger. Is there anything you want to talk about?" Leah asked.

"No; it's just been a lot in such a short time," I finally sighed. It would be over soon, I assured myself. "When we go shopping for clothes, we probably also need to get some stuff for the baby depending on how long we'll be here," I added, totally contradicting my mindset.

"Okay, we can do that," Leah smiled as we stepped into the living crowded living room, but my eyes were drawn to only one person and I remembered that everything would be alright.

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Haha, I know, two scenes of brief nudity, but they're wolves, it's bound to happen. Anyway, like I always say, feel free to review, I like it when you guys give input, it's helpful. Thanks for reading :)

Ravenclawbrunette


	4. Gotta Figure This Out

Hi again! Just checking in with the new chapter. It's one of my favorites just because of the vampires, so I hope you like it! :)

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Chapter 3.

"Is everything alright?" Seth asked anxiously.

"Yes Seth, everything is fine," Leah sighed, slightly annoyed.

"That was quite a fight you put up," Billy laughed, "once you train up a little you'll probably be as good as Jacob."

"Hey!" Jacob shouted.

"Shut up, you wussy little excuse of an Alpha," a huge man on the couch, probably Paul because he was sitting with his arm around Rachel, growled.

"I heard that!" Jacob said. "You wanna take this outside?"

"I think I do," Paul replied, and they sprinted out the door. Soon two wolves ran across the yard, pouncing and wrestling each other.

I quietly walked over to Seth and sat down beside him. He put his arm around her and smiled, I smiled back and mouthed the words "me too." He gaped for a second, and then the biggest grin came across his face. It filled me with the same warm feeling I'd felt in my dream last night.

Just then an older lady, about Billy's age, walked into the room, "Mom," Seth said, "this is Kelsey. Kelsey, this is my mother."

"You can call me Sue, sweetie," Seth's mom said walking over and taking my face into her hands, that was a little uncomfortable. "Such a pretty little thing, poor baby," Sue said softly, "this must be so much for you, right now, but just know you're always welcome here."

"I already covered that mom," Leah said, "she already knows she's family."

"Okay, okay Leah, I just wanted to welcome Sethy's girlfriend into the family!" Sue said as she got up and sat down next to Billy's chair. There was something that struck me odd about being called the girlfriend of a guy I just met. Sitting in a room full of strangers who called me family without knowing anything about me used to be a way of life, but I had never been anybody's girlfriend. Yet, with Seth there, it seemed perfectly natural to act the way I'd always seen Rosalie act around Collin, to be in love.

I couldn't decide whether I wanted to be here or go home more. I'd certainly have to keep in touch, come up with some story about how we'd met so Collin wouldn't kick me out or send me to the insane asylum. The room had already broken out into sporadic conversations.

Abby sat in the middle of the floor playing with a little teddy bear. I had probably traumatized her for life with my constant changing form and mood swings. Abby finally looked up from her playing. I gave her a smile, the smile was a little forced, but seemed convincing enough. Abby pouted. I then put on my most exaggerated sad face, which wasn't hard considering that it seemed like everything else in my life was exaggerated. The dangers that loomed, threatening to take Abby away, the prospect of finding my biological family, my newfound love life; everything seemed bigger, closer, more threatening to my sanity, so my exaggerated frown seemed to fit perfectly.

Abby finally consented, getting up and dragging her bear over. She was obviously tired, a glance at the clock on the wall showed it was almost her naptime.

"I think somebody needs a nap," I said, picking her up and putting her in her lap.

"No," Abby whined, burying her face into my chest. There were only two times that Abby ever whined. When, on the occasions I stayed home alone with Abby, which had been often since Collin's mom died, became so engrossed in my schoolwork I forgot to do something important like make dinner, and if Abby hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. I figured that Abby probably didn't get a full night's worth of sleep, and was in desperate need of her nap. I readjusted her to try and gauge how tired she was.

"Aww…poor baby, you can hardly keep you eyes open." I cooed, cradling her in my arms.

Abby began to cry, "But I don't want to take a nap!" she whimpered, even as she leaned her head back on my chest.

"Alright, alright, we'll just sit here, how about that?" I asked soothingly. Abby was going to take a nap whether she wanted to or not.

"Yeah, just sit here…" Abby sniffed as she closed her eyes. Soon enough she was fast asleep.

For a while everyone just sat there, talking laughing, being a family. It made me homesick yet again. I held Abby closer and watched everyone interact, instinctively trying to figure out where I may fit for the short while I would be staying here.

I was still analyzing when Jacob and Paul walked in.

"Hey guys, we were just at the Cullen's; it seems Henry has a little posse who aren't exactly thrilled about having to follow him all the way to Washington," Jacob said.

"We probably won't need the help, but we figured it would be a good idea to take Kelsey over to the Cullen's so she wouldn't attack them if she ran into them on the street or something, maybe teach her a little about really fighting off the blood-suckers in case they give her anymore trouble," Paul finished. "If that's okay with you Seth," he added callously.

"It's fine with me if it's fine with her," Seth said, totally ignoring the tone of Paul's comment.

I wasn't so sure. I wanted to stay here with Abby, make sure she was okay, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to learn how to defend and control myself, especially if I was supposed to be leaving very soon like Seth had promised.

"Will we be gone long?" I asked. Ideally it would take about five minutes and I could be back before Abby woke up, but that likely wouldn't happen.

"Um…it probably won't take long to meet the Cullens, but training will be a good couple of hours, I mean it's not like we wear watches, but we should be back for lunch," Paul answered.

I looked down at Abby again. I would do anything to protect her, to ensure her safety. If it meant going to an open house of nine and a half vampires, which would probably burn my nose off, and spending hours having huge jerky guys who could read her mind teach me how to fight, I would do it. "Okay…I'll come," I finally consented.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Not that Bella and the thing are going anywhere," Jacob said, almost sounding bitter.

Paul snickered.

"Jacob was in love with Bella, but she was in love with one of the bloodsuckers. She married him, got preggo on the honeymoon, and then he changed her. So now they've got a weird little Halfling kid, but she's pretty well trained. Jacob hates them both though. You know, more than he hates vampires anyway," Seth explained.

I nodded. This story kept getting weirder.

It took us awhile to get ready though for some reason. During this waiting period everyone slowly left, first Billy and Sue went off to the grocery store, then Rachel and Paul went to Paul's house, finally Sam and the others left to go cliff diving, leaving only Seth, Jacob, Abby, Leah, and I at the house.

"Okay, let's go!" Jacob said for the umpteenth time. Finally it seemed like everyone was ready.

"Wait!" I said as the other three were headed out the door, "one of you has to stay home with Abby. I don't care if they don't drink human blood; I refuse to take her into a house of nine and a half vampires."

They all looked at each other for a little bit, hoping someone else would volunteer. Finally Seth started shifting like he knew it would be him.

"Please Seth? I'll love you forever if you do," I said.

"You'll love me forever anyway," he mumbled sulkily.

"Thank you," I said taking away the choice and handing Abby to him.

"I don't see why…" he grumbled.

"Look," I said pulling him over to the side "I know we don't know each other very well, but here's one thing you should learn quickly. I may have imprinted on you, but she's still my life."

Seth softened again. "Okay, I guess I understand," he sighed.

So Jacob, Leah, and I walked to the Cullen's, soon enough though we all got into a race. Right before they reached the house, Jacob faltered for a second and toppled onto Leah, sending them rolling across the forest floor.

Instead of getting angry like I assumed she would do, Leah laughed. Jacob and I stared at her, hysterically laughing, caught up between Jacob's body and a tree. Jacob sniggered and fell into laughter too, rolling into a very awkward position over Leah. I took a little longer to find the humor, but soon I was giggling at Jacob and Leah's laughter.

"Okay, we've got to go," Leah gasped, getting up and offering her hand to Jacob, who took it.

We walked the rest way to the Cullen's laughing and joking along the way. Finally the big white house came into view. A little girl standing on the front porch quickly ran inside shouting that Jacob and Leah and "that other girl" were here. Suddenly I was hit with the strong, sickly sweet scent of vampires. All I could think about was killing Henry. I struggled not to turn into a wolf right here. I coughed. I didn't want to go in anymore and stopped walking.

"You'll get used to it," Jacob reassured.

The house was decorated completely white on the inside, like it was specifically planned this way, so different from the Black residence in which everything seemed like it found its place as it came into the home, not much matched.

"Goodness, we didn't think you'd be here so soon!" I heard a woman's voice exclaim. The woman walked into the room from the spotless white kitchen. Despite the fact that I knew I shouldn't, and would never admit it, I immediately liked the woman. She seemed motherly, like Seth's mom, but in a different way. She looked too young to be any of their mothers, but she could pull off being Abby's mother. She was beautiful, everything about her. The nearly white skin seemed a little out of place with her long golden-brown waves and toffee colored eyes. Her smile revealed perfect teeth of course, and her movements were so graceful it seemed as if they were each individually planned and rehearsed.

"Hi, I'm Esme, it's so nice to meet you!" she said sweetly.

Suddenly I felt very inferior, I realized that I hadn't gotten a chance to shower and my hair, while I had made sure it was decent that morning was probably wind-blown from racing here. I pretended to scratch an itch on the back of my neck in hopes of being able to nonchalantly finger comb it.

Suddenly two other vampires strode in, a male and a female. The man had short, curly, black hair, and the woman had waist length blonde hair.

I realized that all of the vampires looked this stunning and gave up on trying to make myself look decent.

"Hey, I'm Emmett," the man said extending his hand and giving her a mischievous grin. They shook hands then Emmett put his arm around the woman. They were obviously together, though I had no idea why. The woman seemed rather mean.

"I'm Rosalie," the woman sighed; she obviously did not want to be here and with that attitude I didn't particularly want her there. Her name pulled at my heartstrings a little though. I'd only known one other Rosalie.

Another four vampires glided into the room.

"I'm Edward Cullen, this is my wife Bella and my daughter Renesmee, nice to meet you," said the man. He had short, copper colored hair, and a serious presence about him. His wife had medium length mahogany curls, as did their daughter. So that was who Jacob was in love with. The couple looked a little young to be married with a kid. I found it kind of sketchy. "I'm one-hundred-ten you know," Edward said. It was like he could read my mind. I didn't believe him. Not only did he only look seventeen, but one-hundred-ten was hardly an attainable age and obscenely old to be having children. Edward simply smiled and shook his head.

"Hi! I'm Alice!" said a bubbly looking girl with dark, spiky hair, "I hope you'll find out that we're not all vicious hunters. Maybe we can be friends?" she asked, waltzing over and giving me a brief hug. Her body was cold and hard. Were they all this cold like the wolves all had temperatures of 108 degrees?

I wasn't so sure I'd want to be her friend, but I nodded anyway. They all seemed fairly nice, but I'd only met seven of them. There were supposed to be ten total.

"Hey thing one! Where's thing two?" Jacob asked Rosalie tauntingly.

"Carlisle took Jasper and her hunting so they'd be less liable to eat your faces off, dog. Not that I would mind," she shot back.

"Don't be silly Aunt Rosalie; they would never eat a wolf. Wolf blood smells appalling, and from what I've seen, though I hate to admit it, wolves and vampires are fairly equal matches," said Renesmee. Someone in this room had a ridiculously high IQ.

"How old are you? Eight, nine?" I asked, going off Renesemee's looks. Had I gone off the wording of Renesmee's last statement I would have guessed much higher.

Renesmee looked at her parents for approval then said, "Actually, I'm three."

I couldn't help but laugh. I had a two year old and there was no way that Renesmee was three. People did say that sometimes the smartest people were also a bit eccentric.

Bella and Rosalie shot me cold glares. They were almost icy enough to feel. I immediately stopped laughing. They were serious. Renesmee was three apparently and Edward was one-hundred-ten.

"C'mon Jacob! At least educate the new wolves! I suppose you were to busy hitting on them though," Bella spat.

"No, not really, sorry if we have conflicts in our LIVES that have to be resolved before we take a course on vampires," Jacob said harshly.

I was starting to feel really bad about starting all this, so I stood quietly in the corner by Leah.

"Bella! Jacob!" Esme shouted, stopping both of them in their tracks. "I'm ashamed of you both! Bella, you should know that it takes a while to get used to this world. This is Kelsey's first time meeting vampires who aren't looking to eat her loved ones for a meal and it's perfectly normal for her to expect us to look our age. And Jacob, your comments were simply out of line," she scolded.

Everyone stood stock still. Apparently it was highly out of character for Esme to reprimand others, at least in front of company.

"Sorry about that. Carlisle, Jasper, and Ava should be back soon," she said to me. I figured that Ava was thing two.

The last three vampires walked in just then, two men with blond hair, and a woman who looked far too familiar for comfort. But it couldn't be. My Rosalie was dead. She had been dead for two years. She had bled internally after the car crash on the way to the hospital to have Abby, but the doctors missed it, and she died shortly afterward. This couldn't be my Rosalie, especially considering her name was Ava; the fates seemed to be intent on torturing me lately, and this must just be another device.

"Why is it so awkward in here?" the younger man with almost an afro of curly blond hair asked.

"Esme totally told off Bella and Jacob. You should have been there!" Emmett laughed even though he still seemed a bit shaken

"So sorry I missed it," said the other man, whose hair was straight and slicked back. He almost reminded her of Collin in vampire form. "I'm Carlisle by the way, and this is Jasper and Ava," he said.

It was almost too much, having vampires that looked like Collin and my Rosalie.

"I'm Kelsey, but I'm guessing you already knew that," I said quietly. Then everyone sat down and mainly talked numbers and strategy. There four members in Henry's coven, but they were all "talented". When I asked what "talented" meant I found out that Edward was a mind reader, which was how he knew what I was thinking, Alice saw the future, and Jasper could manipulate people's emotions. Still, they all assured me it would be less than a challenge.

Rosalie and Bella continued to glare at me, Leah, and Seth. Edward looked at Ava sympathetically, and yet he looked slightly amused. Ava was sitting on the other side of the table very quietly and switching between looking at me anxiously, looking at Edward pleadingly, and just looking uncomfortable. It was very strange and made me feel just as uncomfortable. Now that I knew about his talent, I could tell that Jasper was trying to get everyone to focus. Alice helped his effort by giving everyone big smiles.

"May I be excused?" Ava asked, finally saying something.

"What for dear? Esme asked.

"Um…" Ava started unsurely. I had heard that um somewhere before, but I couldn't place it. "Well, they sort of smell like humans, I mean, it's not their fault, they live in society, but it's really bothering me," she said quickly.

"That's strange, you just ate. But if it's really bothering you go ahead," Esme said patting her shoulder.

"Thank you," Ava said quickly getting up and running to her room so quickly it looked like she was flying.

Without Ava to give comforting looks to anymore, Edward stared at me, he had a slightly sad half-smile on his face. I felt bad for the things I had thought and he had probably heard; especially my loudly stated opinion that Renesmee was the stupidest name ever.

The meeting finally ended, the Cullens bid their goodbyes, and we went to our side of the woods to train.

"Okay, so we'll need to get in our wolf forms," Jacob said, "you ladies turn around and get ready; I'll be done in a sec."

It was sort of awkward, but I eventually did manage turn into a wolf. We practiced and Jacob showed me the techniques for taking down newborns, not that we'd be fighting any. He told me about the time they fought off a whole army of newborns and how I had nothing to worry about.

"But we're not fighting newborns! We're fighting talented, full grown, vampires!" I exclaimed. Learning to attack vampires new to their bodies didn't seem relevant.

"It's just in case," Jacob explained, "newborns have a hard time controlling themselves and will attack anyone with a pulse." He sounded a little aggravated. I saw the images in his mind of Ava attacking a blonde girl, Ellie. Jacob cared a lot about Ellie. "Yeah, she's my girlfriend," he said proudly. "She's coming over for dinner tonight; I think you'll like her."

Then he taught me some of the moves for finishing off a vampire more efficiently. Leah helped a lot, and usually had to play test dummy. We were all basically worn out by the time we finished.

Once the sun cast an orange red glow over the forest, we realized what time it was and headed back. After we cleaned up dinner was ready. It was amazing how we had gone from no food this morning, to enough to feed several small countries for dinner. It was all delicious, and I didn't feel bad eating as much as I liked like I usually did, because this time, several people ate a lot more than I did. It also amazed me how many people could fit into the small house. There were at least twenty people crowded into the living room.

While I was able to remember a few names, most of the faces were either new or nameless to me. But that wasn't for long. Seth was going around introducing me to people like he was showing off a shiny new toy or something. There was one woman who I noticed particularly. She was Claire, Quil's five year old imprint's mother. She wore the exact same look of concern and anxiety that Ava had. It was really strange.

"Everything okay Delilah?" Seth asked while he was introducing me.

"Yeah," she said distractedly. "You said your name was Kelsey right?" she asked nervously.

"Mm hmm…Kelsey Jacobs," I said, repeating Seth.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," she said, attempting a little smile.

Ellie, Jacob's girlfriend was there. "You met the vampires huh? They're a little scary at first, but some of them aren't that bad," she said.

"You know I don't approve of that," Jacob said in a low voice. I realized they were talking about Ava.

"She has more control; she'd never do anything like that now. And it's not like we're not careful!" Ellie assured him.

"I still don't like it," Jacob grumbled.

"Don't listen to him," Ellie said to me. "The Cullens are perfectly nice people and would never hurt a fly."

I nodded, but I didn't think I'd be best friends with the Cullens any time soon though.

The night went on, people waltzed in and out and I stayed neatly tucked under Seth's arm. Claire and Abby had become fast friends, so I didn't have to watch her too closely as they ran around on their own adventures. Finally, as it got later everyone started to leave until it was just Billy, Sue, Jacob, Leah, Seth, Abby, and me.

"Well, it's been a long day, I'm sure you want to get to bed," Billy said, yawning himself.

I nodded, Abby had already fallen asleep in one of the huge arm chairs and I was pretty tired myself. So much had happened today I hardly knew what to think. Leah lent me some pajamas, promising a shopping expedition sometime soon and despite Seth's kind offer I opted to sleep on the couch. Sifting through the day in my head I couldn't decide if being a wolf was a good thing or a bad thing. The only thing I really knew about it was today, and today wasn't bad.

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Thanks to everyone who reviewed and or read this story! I really appreciate it. As always please review!

Hufflepuffbrunette :)


	5. Not Exactly A Traditional Bedtime Story

**Hello again! Well, here is my weekly update! I know it's a little short compared to my usual chapters, but it's somewhat fluffy and provides some important information. :)**

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Chapter 4.

I sat on the couch, waiting for Seth to finish getting ready and turn off the light. Abby was asleep in the arm chair next to me and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.

"You ready?" he asked, as if it wasn't obvious. I nodded eagerly and he flipped off the light. The room was pitch black. I heard his heavy footsteps coming toward me, his hand touched mine.

"What?" I asked, now slightly annoyed. "I'm supposed to go to sleep now."

"Nothing much, it's just…I didn't get much of a chance to talk to you today with everything that's happening with the vampires and stuff," he said, taking a seat on some of the open space.

"Okay, so what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I guess for starters that dream, while we were both wolves? Is that a normal thing for you? I mean, you seemed to know it really well, and you seemed so relieved when I saved you from it."

Of course! The big, warm, hands that had kept me on course last night saved me were Seth's. Who else could they have been? Santa Claus? "Thank you for that," I whispered. "I've had that dream every night since the crash. Of course, in real life I wasn't driving, but I guess that's just my subconscious trying to tell me I should have done something different. But the rest is true, down to the street name." I paused for a second; did I really want to tell him this?

He squeezed my hand. "It's okay," he said.

I swallowed hard and tried to finish my story. He had to find out sometime; we may as well get the hard stuff out of the way first.

"It was December 4th, cold outside. I was thirteen. I had been living with Collin and Rosalie for two years, they'd adopted me that August. Rosalie was about to have her baby. Things were pretty good. Collin went out to a little party, with permission of course, like a last hoorah before the baby came. Anyway, he got a little drunk, a friend drove him home, and everything was fine.

Then Rosalie's water broke and we were all like 'crap, what do we do now?' because Collin's still a little tipsy, Rosalie's having contractions and I'm too young to drive. So finally Rosalie tries to drive herself to the hospital, but has to pull over when the contractions get too bad. She lets Collin take over since it had been a while since he had gotten home and he was basically sober. He started driving and everything was fine. He was going through an intersection when Rosalie screamed from one of her contractions and he got distracted. He did what you stopped me from doing. He accidentally pulled the steering wheel trying to check on her. We drove head on into a car and my head hit something and I blacked out.

Next thing I know I'm in a hospital room and the doctors are everywhere, scrambling around to take care of me, because I had hit my head, and the baby because obviously, it's a baby. Once the doctors check me out I ask to see Rosalie, so they take me. She didn't look so good, but I figured that was from giving birth or stress or something. But it turned out she had gotten internal injuries during the crash. She bled to death. That's why I have that dream every night. Last night though, you saved her. You took control and she got a happy ending. We both did. Thank you for that."

His big, warm arms wrapped around me. Until I wondered why I didn't even notice that my face was wet with tears, my breathing was light and uneven, occasionally coming out in gasps, and I was clenching my teeth and shaking. "It's okay," he said again. It was comforting. I let him hold me as I fell asleep. Maybe he'd be able to keep me safe again. I wouldn't know until I tried.

It worked. I didn't have the nightmare again. I didn't have the same dream about being in the maternity ward, in fact I didn't remember the dream I did have, but at least I didn't have my nightmare.

So we went on that way. I took care of Abby, became associated with the worlds of vampires and werewolves, and trained for the imminent battle during the day, but the night was just for Seth and me. I took him up on his offer to let me sleep on his bed, moving Abby's pallet to his room. I told him everything. I told him about all the foster homes I'd been to, the note my biological mother left me, how I'd clung to it before it got caught up in the wash one day, about Logan, the guy I'd kind of liked until I met Seth, about my more recent life, raising Abby, trying to make things work when Collin was always at the hospital working and there was no one there but us two. How conflicted I was between wanting to go home and wanting to stay here.

He told me things too. He told me about how he'd grown up on the res. How his dad died of a heart attack and his mom married Billy, all around the same time he and Leah were changing. How he'd felt about the pack before and after he'd changed into a wolf. How he and Leah broke away from Sam's pack when Jacob claimed his dominance. His dream of being the first in his family to go to college to be an engineer, and how he didn't think he'd be able to because money was so tight. How he was conflicted between wanting me here with him and wanting what made me happy. We'd talk for hours on end. Usually I'd fall asleep in his arms, finally free from my nightmare, and sleep the whole night.

Still, I was always waiting, always ready for the call that Henry and his clan were coming. Ready for that final battle, to tear his head off. Ready to take that long car ride, jump out, and run into Collin's arms. Ready to stop worrying about Henry coming after Abby, and ready to stop worrying about Collin and how worried he was. I was ready to go home.

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**Alright people, I have a little challenge for you. There is a relatively big plot twist next chapter. If any of you can guess it, or, if no one gets it, if you get the closest, I'll name one of the vampires in Henry's clan (who, by the way, has a very cool power) a name of your choosing. Please post the name you want along with your guess and have fun with it! As always reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks for reading!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	6. More Icing for that Cake I mentioned

**Hello again! Congratulations to twilight_chick_92 (aka Megan) and delicatedreams (aka Lilly) for guessing correctly! An honorable mention to THIS_IS_NICOLE_CULLEN (sorry if I typed it wrong) for being the only other person to guess. Enjoy the chapter! :)**

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Chapter 5.

The thunder rumbled loudly as I woke up yet again. Usually I only woke up once a night, always for the same reason, but tonight I'd woken up repeatedly. Maybe it was the thunder, it had scared Abby into begging to sleep with me that night, but still, this time Abby was fast asleep on the bed, Seth on the floor. I got up to look out the window, maybe I'd see some lightning, which, although was scary, was amazing to watch, something that was always so far away, barely within human comprehension.

I pulled open the curtains and fell backward with a short scream, which, strangely, didn't wake Abby or Seth. Someone was standing outside the window peeking in. I looked again only to find Ava, motioning for me to come out. I stared in disbelief. The woman hadn't spoken two words to me when she had a perfectly good opportunity, but now, at two in the morning, during a thunderstorm, now she wanted to talk.

Still, she had come all the way to the res even though it was against the treaty and she was perfectly liable to be ripped to shreds and burned by a pack of cranky wolves, and she was getting soaked in the storm. It was really sad actually. So I rolled my eyes and tiptoed through the house and out the front door.

"This had better be important," I said once I had gotten outside.

"Trust me, this is very important," she said sadly.

We ran to the Cullen's, trying to avoid being soaked, or in Ava's case being soaked further, by the pelting rain, icy cold on my hot skin.

"So, what was so utterly important that you had to drag me out of bed, into the pouring rain, and all the way over here in the middle of the night?" I asked once we were inside.

Ava ignored the question and glided up the stairs. I had to jog to keep up, to get a peek at Ava's face. There was almost a pained look on it. This concerned me, but I couldn't bring myself to care too deeply, not for a vampire I hardly knew, even if she looked painfully like my mother. Finally we reached a room, undoubtedly Ava's. She silently dug through some drawers and pulled out some dry clothes.

"Here," she said, tossing them to me then quickly returning to finding some more. I was a little uncomfortable changing in front of a stranger, but I realized I had been naked in front of people far many more times than I cared to remember in the past few days. Still, I used the gym style of changing which revealed as little skin as possible. The clothes smelled like vampire, but they fit alright and were better than the soaking wet pajamas I was wearing. By the time I was done Ava was dressed, even in the extremely comfortable looking sweats she was wearing she looked amazing. Not even the worry, sadness, and frustration evident on her face could change that. Stupid vampires.

"Sorry about the time," she said, sitting down on the couch and inviting me to join her. I realized what made the room look so strange was that, unlike the others, it didn't have a bed. "But vampires don't sleep and it's really hard to get the house to yourself. Everyone's out playing baseball right now, and, well, it took a while to convince them to play with an odd number of people," she continued.

It seemed strange that anyone would play sports in a thunderstorm, but I figured they were invincible to the lightning, and they needed the field to themselves so their freakish talent and skill wouldn't be noticed.

"Kelsey," Ava sighed, apparently getting to her point. It reminded me of times when my Rosalie and I would sit in one of our rooms and talk, eventually falling asleep on the same bed, when Collin had to work overnight at the hospital, so we didn't feel so alone.

"How old are you?" Ava suddenly asked. It seemed like she was veering from her original topic of conversation. Age was generally not important enough to discuss at two in the morning.

"Fifteen," I answered warily. What kind of trap could this be?

"Where do you live?" she asked.

"Well, right now I'm living with the Blacks, as you well know," I started.

"No, normally," Ava interrupted.

"With my dad and sister in North Dakota," I answered, being careful not to give away too much detail. For all I knew she could be conspiring with Henry.

Ava smiled sadly. "How is your dad?" she asked.

While I couldn't see where this could possibly be going, I decided to use the truth to my advantage, giving a little guilt trip. "Not so wonderfully, I'm guessing, since Abby and I disappeared into the mysterious realm of 'Dad, I can't tell you what's going on, but we can't come home,'" I said. I was starting to become annoyed with Ava's personal questions though the answers did appear to have some importance to her. She made startlingly sympathetic faces for someone who didn't even know anything about me or my family that she hadn't learned in the last five minutes.

"Is he still…um…single?" she asked slowly.

That crossed the line. I gawked at her. What sort of question was that? I knew I hadn't mentioned a mother anywhere in my description of my living conditions, but who said Collin was single to begin with? He _was_ single of course, but the question was totally inappropriate. Like I would let Collin date a vampire, even if he wanted to.

"I really don't think that's any of your business," I said angrily.

Ava got a yet another pained look on her face. It almost looked like she was crying, but there were no tears, and her face remained the same chalk white color. She slumped into the couch and covered her face. "No, I guess it's not anymore. I'm sorry."

The last two words hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew those words. I read their meaning so easily. I'd heard them so many times in my life. But none of the other times mattered. All I could think of was my Rosalie's last words. "I'm sorry." Not I'm sorry, I was wrong, but I'm sorry, I'm going to hurt you, leave you, and I don't want to. I finally realized the purpose in all of Ava's questions.

The words I was hearing now, they were the same, they were the same as the words I heard in the hospital so long ago. Ever since I had last heard them, all I wished for was to hear them again, anything from my mother's mouth, even if it was another goodbye. But this wasn't a goodbye. It was a hello; a hello almost as painful as the last goodbye. There was no Ava. Ava was my Rosalie.

I had my wish, but it wasn't what I wanted, she was a vampire and I was a werewolf. I had my Rosalie, but could it ever be the same? There was one last way to check.

"Momma?" I managed between brimming tears and uneven breaths.

Rosalie reached out her hand, wrapping it around mine. It was cold and hard, like a corpse, almost like what it had felt like the last time.

"Impossible," I said, choking on the word, "How? You…you died. We saw you. We…we buried you. You died!"

"Carlisle was there, he saw me. He felt obliged to save me. He sedated me and…changed me. It hurt, a lot, but I couldn't move, I wasn't aware of the outside world, only the pain. I was out for three days. That's how you were able to see me. I obviously had to attend the funeral, but you buried several sacks of flour; Carlisle made sure of that," Rosalie explained.

"No!" I screamed. I had no idea what to feel. On one hand, I was thrilled. I had my mother back. What more could I possibly ask for? On the other hand, it wasn't that simple. Abby still couldn't have her mother, Collin still couldn't have his wife. Rosalie's parents couldn't have their daughter, her brothers couldn't have their sister. Rosalie's place was here now, and soon I would be back in North Dakota and it would all be the same. Like this had never happened. I still wouldn't have my mother, but I'd know I could. Could that be more painful than what I was used to?

Rosalie nearly tackled me in a hug. The cold skin felt much better on my burning face than it had on my hand. The hug nearly choked me, but it felt good, safe. My arms constricted just as tightly around Rosalie's neck as I buried my head into her shoulder and cried.

I couldn't tell if Rosalie was crying or not. My head was buried in my arms and we were both holding on too tightly to shake.

"I…I'm sorry Mom! I should have seen it. You're exactly the same and it hardly registered, and I've grown so much, even just last week, I hardly look the same, but you still recognized me immediately," I sobbed. "Just like last time. It was right in front of me. I saw it, it registered. I KNEW something was wrong, but what did I do? Nothing. I could have done something…I could have done something. I could have stopped this. This time it's my fault."

"No. No it's not. It's never been your fault. There was no way you could have known. I didn't even know. You didn't do anything," she whispered.

"EXACTLY!" I shouted sitting back up to wipe the tears off. "I DIDN'T do anything!"

As soon as I took my hands off my face Rosalie's replaced them, brushing away the new tears, cooling down the blood that continued to rush to my face.

"I love you," she said firmly, cupping my face in her hands, "and it doesn't matter if there was anything you could do or not. That'll never change the way I feel about you. I'll always love you, even if I'm not there to hold you when you're hurting. I'll always be proud of you, even if I'm not there to see what you've done."

"I love you too Mom," I whispered. I didn't know how to put it any other way, it was just that simple, but I was still concerned I hadn't gotten it across clear enough.

Rosalie seemed to sense my conflict. She kissed my forehead and let her hands slide off my face. Even her lips were cold and hard. It was difficult to handle. My wolf self wanted to shove her away, attack her and kill her. But I'd never let that happen, it was about as likely as me turning on Abby.

"Don't worry baby, I wrote that a while back. I was going to look you up and mail it to you once you were old enough to have your own place. You would have probably thrown it away and tried to figure out who was playing evil practical jokes on you, but still, I'm sure you knew," she said. A crooked smile came on her face. "I cried every night for the first five months I was here. Emmett said it was like having another baby in the house, except Renesmee didn't cry as much," she laughed.

I giggled a little, but I knew all too well the feeling. "I woke up crying every night until this week," I confided. Since the night she "died" that nightmare had haunted me, I hadn't had an entire night's sleep in two years. I wondered if it still have the nightmare would after I knew she wasn't dead...sort of.

"Now that's not healthy," Rosalie said, falling back into the look of worry, "didn't Collin do anything? I think I'll have to go haunt him if he didn't."

"No, it's not his fault. He tried to be at home at night, but when he had to be there Grandma would stay over. I sleep with the door closed anyway. It's okay, it stopped now." I decided not to tell her that Collin's mom had died three months ago. That would worry her more.

Rosalie didn't look satisfied. "Please do something if they come back. It's not healthy. Know I would have made you."

"Alright, I'll bring Abby with me. I'm sure I've traumatized that child far too many times," I joked, but it did seem likely.

"Now I don't know about that," Rosalie smiled. I could tell she was just trying to make me feel better. She wouldn't know, so I changed the subject.

"Why did you change your name?" I asked. While I had believed it when it was first introduced to me, now I couldn't see Rosalie being Ava. I could only see her as Rosalie, my adoptive mother.

"I had to. It was like a constant reminder of what I'd lost. Whenever my name came up I could only hear your voices saying it. Besides, there's already a Rosalie living here, and if you haven't noticed, sharing is not her specialty," she explained. "So, how's life?" she asked.

"I was just figuring out how to be normal again," I started, but I didn't know where I was going to go with it, so I tried again. "Abby's two, I'm going to be a sophomore this year, then all this happened…I was five one two weeks ago, now I'm five six, my emotions are justly going all over the place, and I'm a freaking werewolf of all things! I mean, really! I couldn't have been a more feminine mythical creature?" I started on a rant I'd had going in my head for a while.

Rosalie gasped. "No, you can't possibly be in high school yet, you're just a baby!"

"I'm fifteen, Mom. Abby's the baby."

"Mmmm…" she nodded a little sadly, "Five six? You're an inch taller than me. My baby's growing up."

Something about the sentiment made me feel so odd. I didn't want to be growing up. I wanted to be eleven or twelve again, to curl up with Rosalie on the couch easily, unlike now when my legs had to basically bend backward to keep from dangling to the floor. I leaned my head back against Rosalie's shoulder.

"I wish I could just stop aging with you," I sighed.

"Well, you will for a little while I guess, being a…wolf and all," she hesitated on the word wolf, "but you'll enjoy getting older. It's just right now you want to stop, but you don't want to miss out on the experiences. Getting your license, dating boys, falling in love, getting married, having kids, growing old with everyone around you. I hate so much that I can't be there with you and Collin and Abby," she said, stroking my hair.

"Well…one of those kinda happened already happened," I sighed embarrassedly. How could I possibly tell Rosalie I imprinted? I knew she wouldn't like it, I just knew it.

"YOU GOT PREGNANT?" she screeched. "HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY DO THAT? AFTER ALL THE EFFORT WE'VE PUT INTO RAISING YOU WITH MORALS!! I WAS THE ONE WHO GAVE YOU 'THE TALK'!!!! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU KELSEY JACOBS!"

I almost died laughing. It was the funniest thing I'd ever heard. Ha! Me, getting pregnant. I was only the most self-sheltered person I'd ever met. I had to keep myself chaste, clean minded, and positive so I could do a good job raising Abby. This would make explaining my imprint so much easier, but took a little while to get Rosalie calmed down enough to listen.

"Mom! Relax! I didn't get pregnant. I'm still a virgin. Everything's fine on that front. Okay?"

"Oh...sorry about that…" she said embarrassedly.

I felt so good. I didn't know why I felt so good after being accused of being a whore, but I was just exploding with good feelings. I guess it was because I knew she still cared. I had to lunge at her and give her a huge hug, still laughing at her outburst. "I love you so much mom," I smiled. I heard her giggling in my ear. "What?" I grinned.

"Nothing, I just thought I'd never get to ask this, but who's the boy?"

"His name is Seth."

"Wait…you don't mean the Seth that lives on the reservation do you?"

"So you know him?"

"Not really. I don't think you would either. How long have you been here?"

"Yeah…I've been here four days. But it's not like normal love. We imprinted on each other. Both of us."

"Imprint?" she asked confusedly.

"It's like finding your true love at first sight. You just know. It's a wolf thing."

"Aren't you a little young to have true love?"

"I don't think age is a factor. Quil imprinted on a two year old."

Rosalie made a face and I realized what I'd said.

"No wait! That sort of came out wrong. There's nothing romantic between them right now. He's just like the best older brother ever for her. Once she's old enough something might happen, but until then they're perfectly platonic."

"Okay," Rosalie frowned, "he is your age right? You can never tell with those guys, they all look like they're in their twenties."

"Of course! Of course! It's a perfect match. He's nice, and funny, and sweet…"

"I do want to meet him though. Just like any boy, Collin or I, or preferably both of us, have to approve."

"Mooooooom…" I groaned. "This will be the only boy."

"That's what you think," she teased.

"I don't think you understand. Imprinting is like diamonds, it's forever."

"Just in case. You're gorgeous, if I may say so myself, you could do some serious damage to any guy who does you wrong. It would be fun to watch," she grinned.

"Mom! That's so mean!" I laughed. I'd forgotten she was capable of being sadistic.

"Well any boy who would think of breaking your heart has a little more to worry about than a guilty conscience,"

"Moooooooooooom!" I moaned. "Never ever say that again! You know I could never stand for you using your powers for evil!"

"I'm sorry honey, but I don't know if I could resist. My impulses are very strong," she said, she started with a mischievous grin, but then her expression darkened.

"Oh mom, please say you didn't," I sighed. I remembered the images in Jacob's head, but I'd never seen how they ended. Obviously Ellie was alive, but that didn't say anything for other people.

"No, I didn't. I almost did. See, we vampires have something called blood singers. Their blood is almost irresistible, like your imprint maybe, but in snack form. I met mine last year. I had just finished being a newborn. I was just learning to master my desire. I almost ate her on a few occasions. Everything's fine now though. I've gotten used to the scent and now we're actually really good friends. Actually, it's Jacob's girlfriend Ellie. You've probably met her. Tell her I say hi...oh don't look so confused," she directed at me, "We can be friends with humans. Bella used to be Edward's singer before she became a vampire. That's how Renesmee happened. That's why she's only half vampire."

"Okay, I was wondering about that," I said. Renesmee was certainly…a curiosity to put it nicely.

Suddenly the door opened. I could hear the other vampire's voices as they came in, talking and laughing. "Oh look at the time!" exclaimed Rosalie. "It's nearly five thirty! I should probably take you back to the Blacks before they realize you're not there. C'mon, we can jump out the window."

I gawked again. Was she crazy? Her bedroom was on the abnormally high second story.

"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe," she said pulling open the glass part. "Now I'll go first. You just jump and try to control yourself as you're falling like this." Rosalie gracefully jumped out the window and landed safely on the ground below, very catlike. I wasn't sure I could do that.

I stepped up to the window and teetered at the edge.

"Come on!" Rosalie called up. "It's not getting any earlier!"

Finally I jumped. For a second it felt like the world had dropped out from under me, like I was going to die. Finally I was able to move myself into a landing position and just then, plop, I landed on the ground, safe and unharmed.

"Very good! Now I'll walk you to the border, but I've basically been banned from coming to La Push ever since the Ellie thing. I was surprised Jacob didn't wake up and try to kill me."

"Will I be able to see you again?" I asked. I had just said hello, I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.

"You can come over anytime you like, sunshine," Rosalie smiled. "And don't even dream that I'd miss out on facing off with Henry. The nerve of him! Trying to eat my baby! Well, he'll certainly get a taste of something," she grumbled. I laughed.

"From what I hear, about five of us could do it each with a hand behind our backs. I'm still worried though," I said.

"Of course you're worried! It's your baby sister! I'm nervous too, but the odds are too good. We're going to win," Rosalie said, rubbing my shoulder. Then she bit her lip like she realized something.

"What?" I asked nervously.

"Oh, it's nothing really. I just don't know how to phrase this, but, well, it has been two years since I've seen Abby…" she started.

This was one of the things I had worried about. I knew Rosalie would want to see Abby, but how could I trust her now? The images I'd seen from Jacob's mind flashed through my mind again, but so did Ellie's words of assurance. Her daughter was her natural prey, but could that compete with the conquering of instinct for a blood singer? I didn't want to say no and hurt her feelings, but I didn't want to say yes and have Abby be eaten. "I don't know Mom; you've been a vampire how long? Two years? It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that…"

"Oh, no, it's okay," Rosalie said embarrassedly, "I understand."

"I'm sorry. I'll think about it, but at the very least I'll take some pictures."

"Alright, that sounds fair. Well, I'll see you later then?" she asked as we approached the border Jacob had pointed out when we first went to the Cullen's.

"Yeah. Definitely," I said sadly.

"I love you. No matter what. Don't ever forget that," Rosalie said. I'd thought she'd already said that, but I didn't mind hearing it again.

"I love you too." I looked over the boundary I didn't want to leave, but I had to get back to the Black's. It was almost sunrise; soon they'd realize I was gone. We hugged one last time and I walked over the border and back to my wolf life.

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**Thanks for reading! As always feel free to review. It's always nice to hear something to let me know you're actually reading and not just clicking on the link out of curiosity. Special thanks to twilight_chick_92 for whatever ideas I may have stolen from her in this chapter even though I wrote before I posted the story. See you next Friday!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	7. Confrontation

**Hello! Okay, just for clarifacation with the names, Rosalie Hale will likely not show up for the rest of the story so if when it says Rosalie it means Ava. If it's not clear enough tell me. Sorry that a lot of the names overlap, but I had them before I even read Twilight. Anyway, enjoy reading!**

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Chapter 6.

Everyone in the house was sleeping when I got back in. I realized how tired I was and changed back into my now dry pajamas before flopping into bed with Abby.

"Where've you been baby?" Seth asked from the floor. He was awake, but barely.

"I've just been out on a walk, it's only five thirty, go back to sleep," I whispered. I barely slept at all though I knew I needed to. My brain was having the hardest time wrapping itself around the fact that Rosalie wasn't dead. She wasn't exactly alive either, but she wasn't dead and gone forever. I dozed a few times, but mostly I looked at Abby and contemplated whether I would let Rosalie see her. I mean, it was her child, and it would be slightly cruel to keep her away, but then it was for Abby's safety, no one could blame me on that front.

She really did look like her dad. Her golden hair tumbled in beautiful curls, the one physical trait she got from her mother. Behind her closed eyelids were tiny blue irises, the color of the sky on a sunny day. She always looked so serious in her sleep, a look Collin had adopted for everyday wear and rarely took off. It was always a relief to see him smile.

I climbed down from the bed and got on the floor next to Seth. "Hey Seth, are you awake?" I asked, gently shaking his broad shoulder.

"Now I am," he grumbled. "I thought you said to go back to sleep."

"I know, but I have to tell you something," this was going to be hard.

"What is it?"

"I saw someone I knew a while back last night, and she really wants to meet you. So is it okay if I take you over to her house?"

"Oh, is that where you were? Well sure, I guess I'll meet her."

"You have to promise a couple of things though."

"Sure thing Kels."

"You have to promise not to judge either of us, and you have to promise to be on your best behavior. It's very important to me that she likes you," I said, propping myself up so I could see his face.

"Yeah, I think I can be good. She must be like a murderer or bloodsucker or something if you're so concerned about my behavior."

"Don't even start," I said, hitting his chest.

"Ouch! You hit hard," he whined.

"Remember, you promised to be nice," I said harshly.

"Okay, okay, I get the message," he sighed rolling over. I wrapped my arms around him and finally went back to sleep.

Later, after we all had gotten up and eaten breakfast, Billy said he had some news for me. He led me into the kitchen and closed the door behind him. I wondered what could be this important.

"Kelsey," he said in a lowered voice, "Carlisle offered to do some tests, and well, the results are back. I know who your biological mother is. I've talked to her and she's willing to meet you, but only if you want to."

I couldn't believe it. After all these years of wondering, imagining, making things up, the door was sitting wide open for me to actually see her. But the question loomed. Did I want to? I really didn't know. Long ago I had accepted the fact that I would likely never see my biological mother, and recently I knew she was out there, so close, but it really hadn't mattered to me. Once I was about eleven I had decided that I didn't care about her, she had abandoned me, and that was that. I never really thought about her after Rosalie had slowly taken her place in my mind as she was supposed to.

"Wow," I said, "I can't believe it…I…I don't know…can I think it over?" I finally asked.

"Of course, this is a very big decision," he said, turning around and heading out the kitchen door, "tell me when you decide."

"Billy!" I called as he was going out the door. He turned his head. "Thank you."

Billy nodded and went back into the living room. Soon I felt lightheaded and had to sit down. I buried my hands in my face. Was it ever going to end? Would my life forever be filled with twists and turns, getting over one thing just to hit another unusual drama?

"Hey, what's up?" I heard a deep voice ask from behind. A warm hand touched my shoulder.

"Ughhh…Seth? Do you think we can go anytime soon? I've got a fabulous conversation starter," I sighed sarcastically, taking a hand off my face, grabbing the one on my shoulder. The hand was too big to be Seth's. I realized that I wasn't talking to Seth. I whipped my head around only to see my favorite person ever, Jacob, standing there with a sly grin on his face.

"So where're we going sis?" he chuckled.

"Just…just don't even. I have too much to think about to deal with you," I shot.

"Okay, calm down. I'm not all bad. Maybe I can help?" he said taking a seat at the table.

"Fine," I scowled. "Billy and Carlisle did some genetic tests and they figured out who my biological mother is and I can meet her if I want, but I don't know if I want to," I said, putting my hands back in my face.

"Well, if I had a chance to see my mother again, I would totally take it," Jacob said.

"That's different, Jacob, besides, I've already taken care of that one," I said. I really didn't have a choice to see Rosalie again though that decision would have been soooo much easier.

"What?" Jacob asked confusedly. "Kelsey, that makes no sense. No one comes back from the dead, not even the bloodsuckers…wait…is that where you were last night?"

"Does everyone know about that?!?" I shouted. It would be slightly distressing if I couldn't even sneak in and out of a one story house without everyone knowing about it.

"Nah, Seth told me," Jacob said casually. "But you knew one of the bloodsuckers before they were bloodsuckers? Geez kid, that's just the icing on the cake."

"Just leave me alone Jake!" I said through fresh tears.

"Oh man, I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry," he said, scooting his seat toward mine and wrapping his arms around me.

"No…you didn't make me cry. It's just everything that's happening now, and I'm tired I guess," I said sinking into his arms. They were almost a comfy as Seth's. The tears were short lived though, and soon I was out of Jake's arms again.

"Well, I guess this means I'll have to be nice to the stupid leeches doesn't it?" he asked lightheartedly.

"Not all of them," I corrected, "I think I'd have to rip you apart if I found you playing football with Henry and his crew."

"Okay, but do I have to be nice to Ava and Rosalie too? Ava tried to eat Ellie on several occasions, and the only one I like less than her is Rosalie," he whined.

"You don't have to be nice to Rosalie, but Ava is…was…is my adoptive mother before she got changed, so yes, you have to be nice to her."

"Oh wow," Jacob said quietly.

I nodded.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you to think over your decision more. I guess you could ask Ava if you wanted to," Jacob said getting up. "You want me to send in Seth?"

I nodded again and he walked out the door.

Soon Seth came in. "Is everything alright?" he asked worriedly. "Jacob said you were crying."

Not exactly what I mean t by sending in Seth, Jakey boy.

"Everything's…okay, so everything's not fine, but the world isn't exactly coming to an end either. Anyway, do you think we could slip away for a while?"

"Well sure. Why?" he asked confusedly.

"Don't you remember this morning, you agreed you'd go and visit someone with me," I reminded him.

"Oh, I thought I was just dreaming, but okay babe, we can go now. You said I had to be nice, right?"

"Yes Seth, I might just have to find someway to un-imprint on you if you do something stupid."

"Hmm, this is serious," he said lightly, mocking my serious demeanor.

"Just come on," I said, getting up and turning around so he couldn't see me smile at his joke.

He took my hand and we walked down the now familiar path to the Cullen's house. "Why are we going to the Cullen's?" he complained, "I thought you didn't like bloodsuckers."

"And I thought you said you weren't going to judge," I snipped back at him. As we approached the house I realized I had no idea whether I should go in through the window or the door.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Edward asked in a friendly voice, gliding out the door. That problem was quickly solved.

"That's an excellent question. Kelsey, what are we doing here?" Seth asked.

"Is Ava home?" I asked. Considering he could read minds I figured he'd already know why I was here. I just didn't know how to tell Seth. I was having second thoughts on even telling. I knew he'd still love me, but I'd absolutely hate it if he didn't like her.

"I think so…hold on," he said, pausing only a moment before continuing, "yeah, she's upstairs. She's expecting you. Go on up."

"Thank you, Edward."

Seth and I managed to make it up the stairs and into Rosalie's room without running into anyone else.

"Hey!" Rosalie smiled as they stepped in. "Oh, okay, you're Seth, I think we've met before."

"Seth, this is my mom," I said. Finally. It was out. A slight wave of relief washed over me.

"But Kelsey, you said she was dead."

"I didn't know she wasn't until last night."

"Oh, um…alright…nice to meet you then," Seth said with a little awkward chuckle.

"You too. So, Seth, you're fifteen?" Rosalie asked.

"Yeah…"Seth said unsurely.

"Good, good. So, you two 'imprinted?'"

"Yes, that's what happened."

"I see..."

I didn't know why, but this didn't feel right. It wasn't what I had expected. I knew they wouldn't become best friends, but there was a strange hostility hidden on both their faces; like neither approved of the other.

"So basically you plan on marrying her don't you?" Rosalie asked. Way to be inconspicuous in your inspection mom.

"I know how strange this may seem, but yes," Seth answered.

"I'd love to hear how you're going to tell Collin this. I'm sure he was looking forward to intimidating several boys before you found one to marry," Rosalie said, moving her attention to me. I couldn't tell what exactly was off, but Rosalie didn't seem like her normal self.

"I don't know yet, I'm trying to not tell him about the wolf thing if I can, but it's hard to come up with something that I would actually do involving me basically kidnapping Abby for several days. I mean, I was almost going to go with we were kidnapped, but that was too complicated with the law enforcement involved. If I can keep Seth out of this incident we could find some way to 'find each other' and Collin wouldn't connect him to this and that would be good," I said.

"Or you could tell him the truth," Rosalie offered.

"Actually, there's a strict code about keeping this whole vampires and werewolves world a secret. We can't tell anyone unless it's absolutely necessary," Seth interjected.

"And you wouldn't call telling the parents necessary?"

"Several of us have had to hide it from our parents, it's not easy, but sometimes it's better for everyone. I mean, there's even the option for Kelsey to return Abby once all this is over and come back to the reservation to stay, Billy and Sue wouldn't mind at all."

We had talked about this and I had been firm that wasn't what I wanted to do. As much as I loved Seth and Rosalie, they could both get along without me; once I got a little older it would be so easy to just hop in the car and come visit them. It was already going to be difficult going back to Collin, and more time would only make it worse. In a similar way I could never leave Abby. Most of the time I did act as her mother, and I couldn't just drop her off and never come back. That was one reason I tried so hard to stay safe and healthy and mentally sane. I could never forgive myself for putting her through the torture I'd been through in various bad foster homes.

"I still think it'd be best if you told him," Rosalie said, totally ignoring Seth's comment. Wasn't she listening? Couldn't she see I couldn't tell him? Even if I wanted to, even if I didn't think that without physically changing I could convince him not to send me off to the mental hospital; that I wasn't allowed to tell him?

"She's doing the best she can. It wasn't like you could tell the world you hadn't died, but that instead you became a bloodsucker," Seth growled.

"Seth, don't..." I whispered. This conversation had taken a definite downhill turn. I really started to wish I hadn't promised to bring Seth to meet Rosalie. Couldn't we just all get along?

"That was different. You were there. There was no way I could even step onto the street, much less go home to my family." I had never seen either of them this angry before.

"Mom," I said softly, hoping one of them would see that I was on the verge of tears. Neither of them seemed to hear me. If they had been hiding hostility before, they certainly weren't now. I couldn't believe it. The two of the nicest people I know and they couldn't be civil to each other. I bit my lip to keep it from quivering.

"Things aren't that different over here. We have to control ourselves too. The public would probably panic just as much if Kelsey turned into a wolf at the mall as if you picked up some random person and drank their blood!"

"Don't even talk to me about self control!" Rosalie snarled, stepping toward Seth. Seth growled and narrowed the gap. Could this really turn into a physical fight? I had to draw the line somewhere.

"No!" I shouted, stepping in between them. "Let's just go home Seth. I thought you two could get along, even if only for me, but apparently not. If you're going to act like this then I won't even bother."

"You certainly have changed. If you expect my approval for this...dog," Rosalie grumbled.

"MOM!" I shouted, grabbing her shoulders. "I CAN'T stop loving him! I don't want to stop loving him! Why can't you understand that? You've been in love! I don't see...I don't see why..." my voice began to shake, my lips trembled. I wasn't even sure if that was what she was talking about. I wanted so badly just to collapse in one of their arms. Either one. I was equally mad at both of them. My grip tightened on Rosalie's shoulder as Seth slowly lead me out the door. For a second I thought I saw a flicker of sympathy, even sorrow on her face, but the next second it was gone. And just like that, so were we.

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**Well, hope you enjoyed it! As always please review...if you have any ideas on what Kelsey can tell Collin I'm definitely open to suggestions. Thanks! :)**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	8. A Little Romance

**Hey! I know this chapter is a little short, but it's nice and sort of fluffy and a necessary segway! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 7.

"I thought I told you to be nice!" I screamed at Seth for the umpteenth time. From the moment we stepped out of the Cullen's house I was completely and relentlessly on his case. Seth had finally stopped us in the middle of the woods so that no one would call the police at my outbursts, including long strings of cuss words that I had never used before, some that I was using incorrectly to his bemusement, which only fired me up even more. But I was tired from getting such little sleep last night and I was starting to wind down.

"I was nice! It's not my fault your mother is psycho!" he shouted.

"I can't believe either of you! Really! It's insulting to think you two would act like that! I wanted this so badly! I just wanted you two to like each other! I know you don't think so but she is one of the most wonderful people I have ever known, and more than all that she's my mother! My took me into her house of her own free will and raised me mother!"

"But she..." Seth started.

"I know what she did! I was there! But that doesn't change the way I feel about her! If I disowned someone just because they did something I didn't like I'd be pretty lonely, wouldn't I?" I said.

Did I really want to meet my biological mother if I couldn't even handle the one who picked me? Or would it be a different thing, since she probably wouldn't really care anyway? It wouldn't be the same as if Rosalie had approved, and I didn't think it would be enough.

I began to shake again. I couldn't tell if I was changing, so I clutched the nearest tree and slowly sat down on the damp moss.

"Okay, I see your point," he sighed sitting down and wrapping his arms around me. "I'm sorry; I know I shouldn't have yelled."

"No, you shouldn't have. Now she probably hates you. How could you do that?"

"Don't worry baby. After this all sorts out and there aren't anymore questions, we can go back over and I'll apologize, even if she doesn't. I'm sure if she loves you as much as you love her she'll come around. The few times I met her she never seemed to be one to hold a grudge, am I right? We'll fix this. You'll see."

"Thank you Seth," I whispered, leaning into his embrace. We sat there for a few warm minutes. For a while I wondered if we were going to have our first kiss, but there was no pressure. With Seth there never was. It was never weird if we just acted like friends. There were no awkward romantic advances, so, so far, all we had really done was hold hands and cuddle. But that was fine; he was always there when I needed him, and when the time was right we'd move forward. "Why do we fight?" I sighed. "None of the other imprinted couples fight."

"I don't know. Usually the imprinter adjusts to the needs of their imprint, but it's like with us, we're both trying to adjust and it's like when people try to decide what they want for dinner but everyone claims they don't care and no one makes a decision."

"So we're basically just like other couples?"

"No, I wouldn't say that. Maybe we fight, maybe we argue, and maybe we aren't so disgustingly lovey dovey that the others suggest we move to a motel, but do you think we'd ever break up?"

"No, I hope not."

"See? It's not that we're different. It's that we're not like anyone else."

"That, is very true," I chuckled. I didn't think anyone was ever in the same situation as me and Seth. As he ran his fingers through my hair, I finally noticed the beautiful meadow we were in. The trees seemed to form a protective canopy over us, just letting the sun peek in enough to light the area, a small brook ran to the side and lush grass covered the area. It seemed like fairies lived there, and with everything that had happened in the past few days, I wouldn't have been surprised if they did. I realized that this wasn't on the way home. "You are very sneaky," I grinned

"What can I say?" he smiled, looking around. "It hardly compares to you."

I blushed. How could I not smile, despite his evil conniving plan to manipulate my emotions to his own purposes?

We laid in the meadow for what seemed like eternity. I finally felt at ease. I stopped worrying. There was nothing I could do. I'd fight the vampires when they came, I'd go home when I could, Abby was fine in the capable hands Sue, Leah, and Rachel, with the protection of the pack. For now, there was only me and Seth.

"Do you want to head back home?" he finally asked as the sun was starting to make it's way to the horizon.

"Is there anywhere else for us to go?" I asked sarcastically as we got up.

"We could always stay here," he suggested slyly.

"That's an idea," I said, taking his hand in mine again. I wouldn't mind staying here a few more hours.

"Or you two love birds could come kick some butt with us," a light voice said from behind me. I spun around only to find it was only Alice and Jasper. "They're on their way, they'll be here by nightfall."

"Well, let's go then!" Seth said and we ran back to the Blacks house where Jacob and Sam assembled their packs. The rest of the Cullen's were at their house and Edward and Alice were acting as walkie talkies. Edward would read Alice's mind, and Alice would get constant updates of what the vampires wanted to do. We started to plan our tactics.

"There's four of them, but I think I was wrong the first time, only two of them seem to have powers, especially if it took Henry this long to get here," Alice said, receiving another vision.

"Well that helps," Jacob said, "if you want, Sam, I can just take my pack and you guys can hang around La Push, just in case."

Sam nodded. We decided that if one of the vampires had a mentally based power like Edward's mind reading, Bella would go after them, being immune to such things, assisted by, Ava, and Leah. If one of them had a physical power, like Jasper's, Edward would take them, being able to see their moves in advanced, along with Emmett and Seth. Esme, Carlisle, and Quil would take the third vampire, and Jasper, Alice, Jacob, and I would face Henry. I probably wouldn't be much help, but they all knew where I wanted to be.

Even with three and four on one, there were still wolves and Rosalie (Hale) on the sidelines, not including Sam's pack, which was bigger than Jacob's, waiting at La Push. It was only then I realized exactly _how_ ridiculously outnumbered they were and why everyone was so confident. I almost felt bad for the bloodsuckers.

"Carlisle's going to try to talk to them first. If they have half a mind they'll give up. The numbers alone are appalling toward their side and we're going to meet them at a clearing that's commonly used as a picnic spot. At the very least we'll have the threat of the Volturi finding out, but there probably won't even be a fight," Jasper said.

"They're coming," Alice said, as her eyes went out of focus for another vision. "We should leave now, the others are going to meet us halfway."

Everyone started to get up and head for the door. "Now you be good for Sue and Rachel, okay?" I said to Abby, who I had kept in my lap since Alice and Jasper had gotten here.

"'Kay," she said though her grip tightened around my arm.

"Guess what?" I said softly, trying to get her to relax.

"What?"

"After this we get to go home."

Abby looked confused. I realized I had started calling La Push home too.

"You know, tomorrow we might go home to Daddy."

"Daddy!" she squealed in excitement. "Let's go now!" she said squirming to get out.

"We can't go now, you just stay here and be good and when we get back we'll see about going home."

"'Kay, bye bye Kesey!" she grinned as I handed her to Rachel.

"Rachel, if I don't come back, take her home tomorrow, I'm sure Collin has lost his mind with worry by now."

"You're coming back," Rachel said taking my shoulder and pushing me toward the door. "Now go, have fun, hopefully you'll only have to do this once and from what I've heard it's a lot of fun."

"Okay, bye Abby!" I said, walking out to door. I ran to catch up with Seth.

"Hey baby, are you ready?" he said, wrapping his arm around me.

I just looked at him. I knew I shouldn't be nervous, but I was. The realization that there was a slight chance that nearly everyone I cared about was in danger washed over me.

"It's alright, I was nervous my first time too. Although there were slightly more vampires," Seth grinned. There wasn't a wolf who'd failed to tell me about the time they took on an army of newborn vampires. Even though Seth was the newbie of the pack then and wasn't even supposed to fight, he liked to take credit. Suddenly he stopped and looked into my eyes with a strange urgency. "I love you."

"I love you too, but you just said we weren't going to die," I said anxiously.

His expression softened. "I know, I shouldn't worry you like this, but there was just something I've been wanting to do," he said as he pulled me closer and wrapped his other arm around me. Then he kissed me.

His lips were warm and soft against mine. His arms wrapped around my waist and mine found their way to his neck. There were fireworks in my head and butterflies in my stomach. I couldn't help but get lost in him.

"Please! There'll be plenty of time for making out after we demolish the bloodsuckers! Let's get moving!" Leah said.

"Somebody's jealous," Seth grinned, pulling away. We laughed, then continued on with the others.

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**Hello readers! Well, it's time for the author's note! I only anticipate four more chapters for this story but have thought up a sequel and was just wondering if there was any interest (not that it matters, I'll write it anyway, but I just like your input). Thank you to my loyal readers, as well as any new readers who have gotten this far because I know after a certain number of chapters a story starts to look intimidating and I have probably crossed that point. Just like always feel free to comment/contructive criticize/suggest things!**

**Hufflepuffbruntte :)**


	9. 5 Seconds of Eternity

**Hello all! Well all I can say is that this is the battle chapter. Well, enjoy! **

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Chapter 8.

The clearing was hardly big enough to hold all the wolves and vampires, and Henry and his coven hadn't even arrived yet. The Cullens sparkled the same red color as the sunset. I'd been told that this happened, but I'd never seen the vampires in the sun before. It was almost as amazing as the sunset itself; a thousand little rainbows shimmering on every inch on their skin. Everyone in the pack now knew that Ava was actually Rosalie, my mother; I couldn't help but think about her when she was standing right there all beautiful and glittering. But because I was still mad at her for this morning, and because I didn't think she knew which wolf I was, I kept my staring to a minimum.

Seth kept going over our kiss in his head, which was enjoyable for me, but no one else really appreciated it. Leah, while not happy with Seth's open display, didn't react as badly as we'd expected. Jacob and some of the others were going over possible scenarios and how to handle them. The mind of the pack was quite busy.

Everything went quiet when a sharp hiss filled the clearing. "They're coming!" I couldn't figure out who had said it as the pack mind clamored into focus, but that was trivial as the four vampires with burgundy eyes glided through the trees in front of us.

There was Henry, with his straight strawberry blonde hair and deceivingly handsome face. Beside him was a female with wavy honey blonde hair, obviously the youngest of the group, looked to be barely older than me, maybe seventeen. She, like Henry, looked irritated to see us. The two behind them looked more surprised than anything. The male was taller than Henry, but younger and less muscular. His hair was dark brown and slightly longer than Henry's, coming down to his chin. The female was slight and small. Her hair fell to her shoulders in curls that bounced behind her as she glided along.

They came to a stop about fifteen feet in front of Carlisle who was standing front and center.

"Hello, I'm Carlisle Cullen, and this is my family," he said calmly.

Henry sniggered. "I didn't know vampires kept pets."

Jacob and several other wolves growled. The Cullens looked slightly irritated, but kept their composure.

"We've made a truce with the Shapeshifters. Now, I understand that you may not agree with our lifestyle, but we can't allow you to hunt on our land. As long as you hunt elsewhere you can stay. They've agreed to let me talk to you, but if you refuse there's nothing I can do to keep the Shapeshifters from doing what they like with you, and we have volunteered to help them if that is the case," Carlisle said calmly.

"There's no need to get violent," Henry said smoothly. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Henry Thorton, this is Megan," he said gesturing to his blonde mate, "and our friends Mason and Lilly." Lilly waved, Mason wrapped his arm around her.

We were still ready to attack, but I was slightly relieved we hadn't started fighting yet.

"So Carlisle, what's one human to you? A toddler at that? I mean, she's only something to me because of the security she's kept in. I thought one 'Shapeshifter,' as you call them, would make for a fun game, but this, now this is a true challenge."

"I really don't believe that's any of your business, but I suggest you give up on your hunt," Ava said. Her tone sent chills down my back. All the Cullen's except Carlisle and Edward looked surprised at this, bet everyone else knew what was going on thanks to stupid wolf telepathy.

"Me! Give up on a hunt?" Henry laughed. "I don't think you understand. I never give up on a hunt. My methods may be slower than those of other trackers, but I don't make stupid mistakes. I'll leave now if you want, but I assure you I'll be back. I learned from the best, a fellow named James, maybe you know him?"

Edward tensed. "We killed James a long time ago, maybe you should reconsider your priorities," he growled.

"Why can't we take him now?" I asked impatiently in the privacy of the pack mind.

"Relax," Jacob said, "the time will come. This scumbag isn't backing down."

A wave of anger passed over Henry's face and he took a step forward. "Well, that's too bad isn't it?" he asked, his eyes running over the small army in front of him. They seemed to pause on me for a moment, to smile in smug glee. "Well, well, we meet again mongrel," he said, keeping a steady gaze on me. I didn't take my eyes off him either, ready to react to any move he might make.

Seth growled and stepped closer.

"You caught me off guard last time," Henry continued, "but you won't find yourself as fortunate should you try anything again."

"Hold back, let him make the first move," Jacob said.

I kept still despite the adrenaline running through my veins. I looked at the vampires behind him. Mason had let go of Lilly and his skin had a golden glow to it. I could barely make out tiny electric like currents running down his arms. Edward looked at Bella and nodded. Bella would take Mason and Edward would take Lilly.

"I'm sure we all have things to do, so how about it Henry? Just sacrifice this one hunt and we'll leave," Carlisle said, still amazingly calm.

"Never!" Henry shouted, taking a flying leap toward us.

Everyone sprung into action. My reaction was late and the chaos began I searched for Jasper, Alice, and Jacob and finally found them with Henry on one side of the field, right by Edward and Lilly, who were in a strange standoff, neither of them moving. By the time I got to them they already had him on the ground. I was much more aware of my actions this time, as I took hold of his arm, dislocating it with a sharp tug. Another pull tore it off and I tossed it to the side, happy to get the taste out of my mouth. It was almost as bad as the smell.

Finally we had all of his limbs off though he was still conscious. Jasper held the limbs so he couldn't try and reattach them.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Jacob asked. In his head I saw the image of me tearing his head off. "I know you've been wanting this." I nodded and got on top of Henry. I held down his shoulders with my front paws as I got one last look at his face before I decapitated him. He was sneering and thrashing his lower body about. We finally made eye contact, and he hissed at me getting venom on my muzzle. I could taste the acridity of even the few drops that got in my mouth as I positioned myself to yank his head off.

Suddenly there was a huge crash, and I jerked my head up. Mason had thrown Bella into a tree a good ways from the clearing, completely out of sight. Looking at Mason again, I saw the electric sparks bouncing off his arms as he turned to face Rosalie.

"What are you doing? Take him!" Jacob's thoughts bounced in my head as everything moved in slow motion. Mason grabbed Rosalie's arm. She shrieked in pain, nearly falling to the ground. "She'll be fine!" Jacob said.

I couldn't seem to put together a coherent thought. Mason was right there, barely three yards away, merely keeping skin contact with Rosalie to keep her writhing in pain, and I was supposed to just sit there? Henry was dead meat anyway. I shook my head in frustration, and in the process, broke Henry's neck, seeing as I still had him in my grip. My instincts wanted Henry dead, right now, but I couldn't listen to them. I'd rather save a life than take one. Each slow second I knew it more and more. One. Two. Three.

"It's my mom Jake. You know you would too. Sorry," I said, releasing Henry and running toward my new target. I threw myself at Mason, bringing him to the ground. Once we were on the ground I remembered why Rosalie was screaming. I howled as the electric current engulfed my body. My legs gave from under me, causing our bodies to touch further. Everything started to shake, the world was fading in and out. I had only been on him for about five seconds, but it was five seconds of eternity.

"Hold on! I'm coming!" Seth said with an audible howl.

It seemed to take me forever for me to comprehend his words through the pain. I could barely breathe, much less think. In an attempt to help Jacob showed me a mental image of Henry's body finally burning. If I was feeling the same amount of pain that Henry was, then that was a good thing. I dug my claws into the ground under me to have something to hang onto, to keep from falling into the black abyss that threatened to take me.

Suddenly the pain was turned off. It was a miracle. My muscles gave way in exhaustion, but my vision did too. A pair of paws, Leah's by the scent, pushed Mason down as he tried to get up. How was she not in pain?

"C'mon, let's get this over with," I heard Bella say. A pair of cold hands from the opposite direction pulled me off of Mason.

"No! Wait!" I heard Mason shout.

I was suddenly very cold as the arms cradled me. I couldn't tell if the battle still was still going on, or if it was just my pulse, pounding in my ears. It didn't matter as the world dissolved into just my here and now. The ice cold body numbed the remnants of the current.

"It's okay," I heard her whisper, I wasn't even sure if it was real or not, but with that assurance, I finally let myself fall into the dark abyss.

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**Hello again! Well, as always read, review etc. especially if there are any ways I can improve on action scenes because I don't write them often. Small note to the actual Lilly, the character will be more developed in later chapers so you will find out what her power is :). Thanks!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	10. Heaven

**Hey! Well, here is your chapter. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 9.

Somehow I made it to Heaven. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, but I wasn't in any sort of excruciating torture which would constitute Hell, and I definitely had fallen into the black abyss of death and died; I'd heard that there was some sort of light, but maybe that doesn't work if you get electrocuted. I mainly felt bad for Collin. Abby wouldn't remember me as she got older, but Collin would, plus he'd have to raise Abby all by himself. I wondered if Seth had already killed Mason; that was what happened when someone killed someone else's imprint, and rightly so, I would be angry enough to kill if someone killed Seth, or even threatened his life.

I felt the presence of a warm angel to the right, a cold angel to the left, and a third one above. I could hear them murmur.

"Is she going to be alright?" one of the angels asked. I wasn't oriented enough to tell which one though.

"Yes, she'll be perfectly fine in a few hours. It was just a very effective mental illusion, she ll probably come to soon." The voice sounded strangely similar to Carlisle's. "I'll be back in a few minutes, he said as I heard a door open and shut. The room was silent for a while. I would have thought it empty if not for the temperature differences the left and right side of the room, and the occasional sounds of fidgeting coming from the right side of the room.

"I'm sorry Seth. I shouldn't have reacted as strongly as I did. Would you call me crazy if I was hoping she'd get so angry she'd leave and never look back," I heard the cold angel sigh. I realized that my angels were Rosalie and Seth, but I couldn t figure out whether they had actually died and were here, or if they were only there because, for me, it wouldn t be Heaven without them.

"It's okay. I overreacted too. You just want what s best for her. We both do really, and right now I think it s best if we try to be on good terms with each other." Of course they would be. No one fights or argues in Heaven, it s one of the best things about it.

Wow, that's very mature of you Seth. I hate to say this now, but I'm impressed."

"Just one question though?" he asked.

"Of course."

"Why in the world would you TRY to get her to hate you?"

"Can't you see?" Rosalie sighed, she leaned forward and her cold hand stroked my hair, "I'm the only piece that doesn't fit in this puzzle! She can always take you home to Collin. You'll figure out some story. Eventually she'll stop changing, and she'll get on with her life. Abby's only two, no one would believe her if she said that Kelsey turned into a wolf, and eventually she'd forget it ever happened. She's better off without me. It's not easy for me either; I hate that I hurt her, but she can go home without feeling bad, she doesn't have to decide if I'm capable of meeting Abby..."

Did I not die? Surely I'd been pulled into death, and no longer had to make decisions like the ones Rosalie was bringing up. Then I realized it. Rosalie's hand was cold. If I were dead it would have been warm, or at least not as cold, because she would have been human.

"While that's certainly a well thought out plan," Seth interrupted her, with only a hint of sarcasm, "there's just one problem. It didn't work. She still loves you, and I'm pretty sure no matter how much you try to sabotage her, and you don't seem to be very good at sabotaging people, she will always love you."

"Yeah, she's shown me on several different occasions between then and now. I could hear her cussing you out a mile away. Next time she goes on a rampage make sure she's using the words correctly; not that she should be cussing people out, but just make sure she doesn't humiliate herself." From her tone I figured she was using the mischievous grin she used when she first found out about Seth, but I wanted to see it.

I blearily opened my eyes and things slowly came into focus, my head throbbed as light came into my eyes and my body still tingled slightly. I was in Seth's room. It was night because the curtains were closed. The alarm clock on his dresser, across the room from the bed so Seth would have to get up in the mornings, finally came into focus and read 11:12.

"Hey baby, how are you doing?" Rosalie asked quietly, running her hand through my hair again.

I groaned and grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand over my eyes. Cool, dark, that was better.

"Here, sit up," Seth said. I slowly sat up, and it was then I got really dizzy, but it soon passed. Seth then handed me about six ibuprofen.

"That's too many," I mumbled looking at them. Three was the maximum a person was supposed to take. Did they _want_ me to die?

"Not with your metabolism. You'll go through those faster than some people go through two," Seth said, handing me a glass of water.

I took the pills and leaned back against the headboard.

"See what I told you?" said Carlisle as he walked into the room. "How do you feel?"

"Ugghhhh..." Seth said, imitating my groan.

"I'll need something a little more specific than that," Carlisle smiled.

"My head hurts and I'm still tingly," I said. Now that the medicine was kicking the symptoms were winding down and I could think more clearly. I had turned back into a human of course, and this time someone bothered to dress me, likely Rosalie.

"That's about what I expected," Carlisle said. "Mason's power sends signals to the brain that create the sensation of pain, but don't actually damage the body. I'm thinking that the part the signals go to is larger in Shapeshifters than humans and vampires which was why you were more strongly affected than Ava."

"How do you know all this Carlisle?" Seth asked.

"Mason and Lilly have decided try our lifestyle, within the next day or so we'll take them to live with the Denali clan in Alaska, there are fewer humans there" Carlisle said plainly.

"You let them live? Are you crazy, Carlisle?" Rosalie exclaimed.

"No, I'm not. Neither of them were personally threatening anyone, and you know I'm against killing unless it's absolutely necessary. Edward and Bella even took them hunting."

Rosalie frowned, but didn't say anything else.

"So as long as you took those ibuprofen, the pain should wear off soon. I'll be at the house. Call if you need me," Carlisle said to me before he walked out the door again.

I felt better as I looked at Rosalie, then Seth, then Rosalie again, then Seth again, just letting myself see both of them together, not fighting.

"See, I told you it'd work out," Seth smiled, totally ignoring the fact that it was partially his fault.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, who won the battle?"

"I did of course," Seth said pompously.

"The actual battle?"

"Who do you think won?" Rosalie asked sarcastically. "Just because you were stupid enough to come save me doesn't mean they weren't still out numbered."

"Well if that's how you feel about it next time I won't come save you."

"Fine, I'm basically immortal, and I'd prefer you not put your life in danger anyway."

"Um, I'm gonna go...to the bathroom...I'll be right back..." Seth said, shakily getting up then bolting out of the room.

Rosalie laughed. "I'll admit, Seth is a good guy, he sat here the entire time until you woke up, that was a solid four hours, and he was very polite and apologized for this morning."

"See, when you aren't trying to make us angry..." I started.

"Oh, you heard that?" she said embarrassedly.

I nodded.

"I'm sorry," she said, I scooted over and she got on the bed with me, "I probably should have just left you alone. I thought it would be best just to resolve our issues then let you go, but when I saw you weren't letting go I figured I'd have to pull you off. It didn't work, my worst figuring, but apparently some of my best acting, ever. It was a horrible mistake; it hurt you and I'm sorry. I just don't want to lose you again, okay?"

I laughed lightly through the light pool of tears starting to form at the bottom of my eyes. I wouldn't cry, it would only make her feel worse, but I was starting to get sleepy again and I struggled to keep my eyelids from fluttering the tears out. "It's really not as difficult as your making it out to be."

"Oh really now?" she grinned.

"We don't have to never talk to each other again. You see, there are these amazing things called phones and computers--I think you might be familiar with them--these things let me talk to you send you occasional pictures and once I can drive, I can come visit you occasionally. It all works out, you know, before I become old and senile or whatnot."

Rosalie, who was laughing suddenly became a bit more solemn. "And then enough time will have passed and I'll come and take care of you, okay?" she said softly.

I remembered vampires didn't get any older. That had to be hard, knowing everyone she knew was going to die while she wouldn't. "I'd like that," I said; it seemed to make her feel better.

"I'm back!" Seth said, coming back into the room looking much relieved. "Oh, Kelsey, Billy wants to know if you 'made a decision,' whatever that means."

"Oh! I totally forgot!" I exclaimed, trying to make up for lost time in my head. I was definitely going to leave sometime tomorrow, so if I did want to meet her I needed to know now. Finally I just picked one. "I guess I'll do it...as long as it's okay with you," I said, looking at Rosalie.

"Do what?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't get to tell you two...um, well, Carlisle did some tests, and Billy wanted to know if I wanted to meet my, um, mother...biological mother."

"Oh, wow..." Seth said.

"And I'm the one not thinking things through? How do you think Carlisle knew you didn't know who your biological mother was?" asked Rosalie. I realized that the tests did happen between the time I went to the Cullens and the time she revealed herself.

I had Seth tell Billy that if she was willing I'd meet my biological mother tomorrow then depending on how long that took Abby and I would head home. I still hadn't thought about what I was going to tell Collin and was seriously considering just telling him the truth.

"Alright, I've kept you up long enough. I miss sleeping sometimes, so go to bed and enjoy it," said Rosalie, hopping off the bed. "I'm going back to the house, I'll see you in the morning."

Bye," said Seth, "it was nice actually meeting you!"

"Bye mom," I said, still trying to resettle myself with the absence of my cold, hard, pillow.

"Bye sweetie, bye Seth!" she said opening back up the window and gracefully hopping out. Unlike her own window, Seth's, like all the others in the Black house, was on the first floor. She gave a final wave and closed the window behind her.

"Now where were we?" Seth asked mischievously and somewhat loudly, turning off the lights.

"Don't even think about it!" we could hear in the distance.

Seth chuckled and climbed into bed with me. The warmth of his body in contrast to hers was surprising, but pleasant. He kissed me for the second time, although it felt like it could have been the thousandth, and mumbled goodnight and in the next few minutes I listened to his breathing slow until I knew he was asleep. I matched his pace and slowly I fell from the complications of life and into the comforts of sleep.

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**Not much to say about this chapter, just some conflict resolution and fluff, but as always read and review. Thanks for reading!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	11. Mothers' Day kind of

**Hey guys! I know this is late. My cousin (not ravenclawblonde for those who know her) got married this weekend and I was in the wedding so there wasn't much time to write, but this is the second to last chapter so read, review, and enjoy! **

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Chapter 10.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Seth grinned as my eyes fluttered open.

I smiled back, burying my head into his chest. I could smell his aftershave, it smelled like peppermint and Oldspice and somehow the scent could last all day.

"Seth! I thought I told you to get her up! Not go back to bed yourself!" I heard Sue fuss from the door.

Before I could figure out what she meant I heard the little footsteps pounding against the floor. "Get up Kesey! Get up!" she yelled, quickly climbing up onto the bed and jumping on me and Seth.

"Kelsey, Jacob and Billy are going to take you to the Bloated Toad **(A/N: this is the cafe in Twilight, I actually looked it up)** to meet your mother in about an hour, so you need to be ready by then," Sue said, walking off with her laundry basket in hand.

Abby continued to jump on the bed, eliminating going back to sleep as an option. I groaned and grabbed her, holding her high enough that her feet didn't touch the bed. "May I help you?"

"You said we would see Daddy today! Let's go!" she grinned.

"Today just started, later, just wait okay?"

She stopped smiling and her eyes filled with tears. I put her back down on the bed and sat up. "Seth, we have an hour right?"

He nodded.

"You need to get ready, I want to go to the Cullen's before I leave," I said. "Abby, I have a very special surprise for you, but only if you can be a big girl and not ask about going home, okay?"

"Are you sure you want to do this Kelsey?" Seth asked nervously.

"Yes, it's her child and I'm pretty sure she can handle it."

"Really?"

"Yes Seth, she was here last night and no one got killed. Besides, all the vampires ate yesterday afternoon to prepare for the battle, and why do you even think I want you to come? You get to supervise and make sure nothing bad happens in case I have to leave. It's the most important job."

"Alright, alright, but if she gets eaten it was your idea," Seth said, blushing.

"If she gets eaten I'll kill you both," I replied, getting up to go get ready.

About twenty minutes later we were jogging down the path to the Cullen's.

"Hey guys!" Alice called, popping up out of nowhere yet again. This time Lilly, one of the vampires who supposedly turned good was with her. I reflexively tightened my grip around Abby.

"Hey!" I said coming to a stop. "Um...Alice, do you know where Ava is?"

"Nope, but you'll find her" she said cheerily. "Well, actually I don't know if _you'll_ find her, but you know what I mean."

"Ummmm...okay" I glanced at Seth's watch again, if we didn't find her soon I'd have to go without finding her.

"I'll take care of it," Seth said, slowly moving toward taking Abby. I wrapped my arms a little tighter.

"C'mon Kelsey, this was _your_ idea," he said, wrapping his hands around her where mine weren't.

"But…" I said, stepping back.

"It's me isn't it?" Lilly pouted. "I may not be a vegetarian, but I can control myself."

"Oh! I guess you haven't been introduced that well; have you?" Alice said, stepping in between us, "Lilly, this is Kelsey and Seth, Shapeshifters and imprintees. Kelsey, Seth, this is Lilly, newly converted vegetarian."

"Nice to meet you," Lilly said, sticking out her hand quickly to take Seth's handshake. "As well as you," she said, looking at me. "but I won't take up your time. You have somewhere to be don't you?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Lilly reads motion very well, that's her extra gift. Even in your slightest shifting she can tell what you intend to do," Alice explained. That would explain the strange standoff between her and Edward.

"And from there it's easy to guess your feelings and motivations. I know you don't like me; I understand. If it makes you feel better though, I never liked Henry, I was just there for Megan because she's one of my closest friends," Lilly added.

I nodded again. It didn't really matter if Lilly didn't like Henry, I still didn't like her. It wasn't that I particularly thought she would eat Abby, but her blood red eyes made me uncomfortable, it was like I couldn't think or speak.

"Well, as you said, we have places to be, but it was nice meeting you Lilly," Seth said and they shook hands again.

"Bye guys!" Alice said waving.

We walked around some more considering it was cloudy day and Seth said the Cullens liked to be outside when it was cloudy, especially in the summer, when it was only cloudy about one day a week. Rain started to drizzle through the trees.

"Kesey…too tight," Abby said.

"Oh, sorry baby…" I said, loosening my grip, I was still somewhat nervous from seeing Lilly. Her eyes were nearly burned into my memory.

"What are you guys doing in the rain?" a voice from behind us said.

I screamed, probably a bit too loudly, and jumped about three feet into the air.

"Kesey! Too tight!" Abby gasped.

"Oh, um…sorry…um…" I stuttered as the blood rushed to my face. I wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing considering Rosalie was standing right behind us. I slowly turned around.

"Oh!" she exclaimed seeing why she had startled me. "I didn't know...it's raining and you were both so close to her and…I'll just go," she said as she started to turn.

"No! Wait! You don't have to…we kind of came out to…you had said you wanted to…" I was so nervous I couldn't even finish a sentence, but it wasn't the same kind of nervous I had felt around Lilly; it wasn't life or death nervous. It was more the kind of nervous a performer gets before they go on stage.

"Oh…wow…you, you really didn't have to," Rosalie stammered. Apparently she was as nervous as I was.

"No, I wanted to," I said despite the fact that my grip was slowly tightening again. It was a good thing Rosalie couldn't read motions. I couldn't help it, protecting her, or maybe being a little over protective in this case, was like breathing to me. It was hard not to do. "I know you guys ate yesterday and everything, and I'm pretty sure we're leaving today, so I thought now might be a good time…unless you don't want to…"

"No, I do want to…may I?" she reached out to take Abby.

I struggled to make my arms separate Abby from me and hand her over to Rosalie, and I had to grab Seth's hand to keep mine from jerking forward. Abby didn't like me having to leave my arms very much, but once Rosalie had her she was content again. "Hi," Rosalie whispered. I could tell she was trying not to breathe.

"Hi. You are very cold," Abby said very matter of factly. "Brrrrrr!" she giggled.

From there it was like they had never been apart. I would have been content to watch them for hours like I had in my dream, the one that Seth changed, but this time instead of making it he ended it by reminding me that it was now nine fifty seven.

"I have to go now," I said, "Jacob and Billy are taking me to meet my biological mother in three minutes so Seth is going to stay here with you guys."

"Okay, bye sweetheart," she said, hugging me with her free arm, "I love you, and I'll still love you even if your mother is a slut or you're a crack baby or something."

"How reassuring…" I said sarcastically.

"Haha, crack baby," Seth sniggered.

"Bye Seth," I said rolling my eyes at him.

"Bye have fun!" he laughed as I lurched forward and sprinted back to La Push.

"It's about time you got here," Jacob laughed as I hopped in the backseat of his car. He revved the engine and we were off. It felt so slow even though a glance at the speedometer showed that we were going a little over the speed limit.

"Nervous?" Billy asked.

I nodded. My stomach had been tying knots in itself all morning.

"Alright, we'll talk about other stuff," said Jacob. "So, how did you like you're first bloodsucker battle?"

"You know perfectly well how much I liked it."

"Right, I guess it helps if you're not being electrocuted, but that was _your_ stupid mistake. I still can't believe one got away though," he pouted.

"Which one?"

"The blonde one, Henry's mate, she saw he was dead and bolted. We finally cornered her halfway to the border and just made sure she knew if she ever messed with us again she'd end up just like her husband."

"Oh." That was slightly unsettling, knowing that there was still a probably vengeful vampire out there likely plotting Abby's death, but I knew there was very little chance she'd actually try anything, and an even smaller chance she'd succeed.

Finally we pulled up to the diner. "This is it," said Billy. "Doesn't look crowded, we'll just go in and Jacob and I will find a table and leave you two to talk."

The diner wasn't crowded, I didn't even see her at first, only a few old men sitting at a table talking quietly, and then she was there, at the table in the very back corner. There were only two chairs. I watched Jacob and Billy as they went to another table and sat down, not saying a word to me. I felt so exposed and alone now. I glanced back at Billy and Jacob who were now busily studying the menu. Jacob looked up and impatiently motioned for me to go to the table in the back.

I sat down and an uncomfortable nervousness washed over me. What was I doing here? Why did I even agree to come? It must have been to satisfy my own curiosity because she couldn't possibly care about me. She had abandoned me at the public library where anyone could have picked me up. Not even the decency to leave me at a hospital.

"Hi," she said shyly. I finally looked up at her and realized I had seen her before. She was at dinner on the first day I was with the Blacks. She had made sure of my name, the only thing she'd given me.

"Hi," I said slowly. This had its implications. It meant that Claire was my sister, half-sister at least.

"Thank you for coming. This has to be hard for you."

I shrugged. I really didn't care either way, but it would be good to satisfy the questions that had been burning in me for so long.

"Well," she sighed, "I guess you want to know how you came into existence."

"Yes, that would be nice," I said. I'd come up with several theories as my knowledge of where babies came from became clearer. The first thing I remember having thought was that the stork got lost and dropped me off at the library instead of at a house with a mommy and daddy. Once I knew exactly where babies came from I had figured the usual thing, unplanned pregnancy caused by rape or ineffective birth control. She didn't look as young as I had expected. She seemed to be a little older than Rosalie, maybe in her early thirties.

"I was a freshman in college, and well, there was a party and I got drunk and there was this guy and my supposed friends were trying to hook us up and it worked a little too well. I don't even remember most of it, I'm pretty sure his hair was curly like yours, and he might have had green eyes, but I guess that's not really important. Anyway, the next month no period and that's how I found out. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't get pregnant your first time; you can. From there I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't want to kill you; you were a good little fetus, I rarely got morning sickness and you didn't make that big a baby bump either, but I couldn't keep you. There simply wasn't enough time or money to raise you the way I wanted to raise a baby. Being a naïve college student I figured it would be best to leave you somewhere safe and I didn't know about the laws that let you drop your baby off at the hospital, so a library seemed quiet enough that once you started wailing someone would notice and from there you would find something more than I had to offer. I mean, I wrestled with the decision even after it was too late, and it's haunted me everyday, but I guess whether I did the right thing is your decision."

I stared. A strange anger had been building up in me while she was telling her story, which was a very long time because she kept pausing to think or recompose herself or something, but now the anger, maybe shock, immobilized me. I had at least expected a little tragedy, a rape, an abusive boyfriend, something, but no, my entire existence came down to nothing but a one night stand. It almost physically hurt. I finally unclenched my jaw in an effort to say something non-monosyllabic, but I had to think about it.

Being a foster child is not an experience I would recommend. There were the really awful homes like creeper guy who constantly hit on me and handled me inappropriately when I was eight (which luckily didn't come to sex and I was too naïve to realize what he was doing at the time) and his wife who was jealous of an eight year old, and the group homes which all had far too many children, but then, Rosalie, Collin, and Abby tied with Seth for the best thing that ever happened to me. I just didn't know.

"I guess I'd need to know what it'd be like if you'd kept me to make that call," I said, letting a small bit of the repressed anger out in my voice.

"Would you like to do that? You could come and stay with me and Claire and Bobby for a while if you want."

I smiled a little and shook my head. Of course not, I had to go home to Collin. If I had still been living with creeper guy I would have jumped at it, but I had something better now, which _was_ what she had wanted wasn't it? "It's nothing against you," I explained. "I've been adopted. It took thirteen years, but it did happen. Now, now I just want to go home and I don't even know what I'm going to tell my dad about this whole wolf thing. Even if I were to tell him what really happened and he believed me I would still be grounded for life."

"Oh, no, I get it; I'd be disappointed if you weren't grounded. I'd ground you for life too if you had appeared to kidnap your...sister right?...and disappeared for days on end. But I know that's not the case, so let's see what we can do," she paused to think, "you could tell him that you got lost in the woods," she suggested.

"I'll think about it," I said. It was worth thinking about seeing as I had thought of absolutely nothing. The only thing wrong with that was that we would be coming back in different clothes than we left in and we wouldn't be filthy, starving, and dehydrated, but we could stage it if we wanted to.

Things were pretty quiet for the next few minutes until Billy came up to the table.

"Delilah, on the phone you said that you could only stay until 11:30, and it's a little past that."

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry Kelsey! I have to take Claire to a doctor's appointment in fifteen minutes! Will I see you later?"

"Actually I think I'm leaving today..." I started.

"Oh, right...well, here's my phone number and stuff," she pulled a little slip of paper out of her purse. I immediately recognized the handwriting and after a quick glance I shoved it in my pocket.

"Okay...well depending on exactly how grounded I am I'll try to keep in touch," I said, still unsure of if I would actually do it, I was still upset about my being the product of irresponsible sex at a frat party.

"Well, it was nice finally meeting you. Thanks again for coming. I'll talk to you later!" she said. We got up and she gave me a hug, but it just felt strange and awkward.

I had always thought that this would be slightly different, that it wouldn't feel like I was hugging a stranger, even though I was, but that I would sort of subconsciously know my biological mother in a room of people. It seemed to me now that there wasn't any sort of biological factor in choosing the people you love (except for imprinting of course), but that it was more in who chose to care about you and whether or not you chose to care back. In the strange, awkward hug, I did feel the beginnings of that, but mostly it brought back the desire I had felt the most four and five days ago, and had slowly forgotten about, but now it was time to go home.

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**Awww...the story is almost ending. The next chapter may take a while because it is the only one I have absolutely nothing prewritten for, but I'm going to visit my cousin this weekend (not the one who got married), and we write a lot, so that'll be good. Well thank you for reading and please review!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	12. Coming Home

**Omg readers! It's the last chapter! I'll save all my horrible sentimentalness for the bottom. :) **

**Small note: So you don't get confused with my constant name changing for Rosalie/Ava, Rosalie Hale is not mentioned at all in this chapter.**

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Chapter 11.

Because Abby and I brought nothing with us when we came to La Push, packing was incredibly easy. In fact, it took a matter of seconds. Of course there were all sorts of snacks, including Emily's famous blueberry muffins, for the five hour car ride to North Dakota. Quil had even brought over a few old toys of Claire's to keep Abby from driving us insane. Hopefully she would sleep most of the way since it was nearly her nap time, but she seemed to be going strong, running around the yard playing hide and seek with Rosalie, who was allowed to come to see us off. The two were hitting it off so well I was almost worried about the fuss Abby would make when I had to pull her away, especially so close to her nap time.

Ellie had also come down to see Ava, which of course put Jacob in a bad mood. We sat on the porch for a little bit and chatted.

"So you two are friends?" I asked her, referring to Ava.

"Yeah, it's pretty strange isn't it? You'd think we'd be enemies. I thought we were enemies in the beginning," she said, smiling a little. "It's even stranger how you two are though…you're supposed to be mortal enemies. I felt so bad when she first called me about it, she was totally convinced you'd hate her because she was a vampire…but I guess it doesn't matter as much what you are as who you are," she mused.

I nodded. I hadn't really thought about her as being a vampire except when I was deciding about Abby and when I could smell it, which I had slowly gotten used to and learned to ignore.

"So you knew the whole time?" I asked.

"Yeah, I dropped you a few hints, but I was sworn to secrecy," she said.

Abby's squeals could be heard across the yard as the cold drizzle started up again.

"I'm glad you came. You know, not that a vampire almost ate your sister, but that you, by some totally random chance of fate, were part Quileute and changed into a wolf, bringing you to her. It was good for her, you know? She really loves you," Ellie continued.

I smiled. "I know," I said softly.

"Okay people! It's 1:00! I am going to make decent time whether you come or not! Anyone who's going is going to be in this car in the next five minutes!" Jacob shouted.

"I better go appease him," Ellie laughed.

While Ellie was appeasing, I went around and said goodbye to Sue, Billy, Rachel, and everyone else.

"I'm going to the bathroom, and by the time I come out everyone who is coming with me to North Dakota will be in the car!" Jacob announced, storming inside.

"I guess that means you, doesn't it?" Rosalie asked, suddenly behind me.

"Yeah, I guess so," I sighed. When I first came here I'd never imagined I'd be so sad to leave.

"Guess what? We're going home now," I reminded Abby in hopes it would be enough to keep her, as well as me, in a good mood until we left.

"Yay! Come on Ava! Let's go!"

"You have her calling you Ava?" I snickered.

"Well it would probably be a tad suspicious if she went home talking about playing with Mommy or Rosalie."

"Come oooooooooon!" Abby repeated, now beginning to show the crankiness I had anticipated.

"I'm sorry baby; I can't go. But you know what? Kelsey is going to go put you in the car seat; then in a few minutes Jacob is going to drive you back home and then you'll get to see Daddy, and he'll be so happy to see you. Does that sound like a good plan?" Rosalie said. I was amazed at how she managed to have these wonderful mothering skills with no one to practice on.

"Yeah," Abby agreed, seeming to calm down.

"Well then we have to say goodbye for now."

"'Kay, see you later alligator," she said, putting a little smile on her face at the phrase. I was surprised, I'd never heard her say that before.

"Seth said it earlier today," Rosalie explained.

I nodded, Seth would, I despised phrases like that. I took Abby from Rosalie and although she didn't seem happy about it she didn't throw a fit either. Then after they said goodbye again, I went over to the car and put Abby in her car seat, hooking up all the straps and buckles.

"I love you Kesey," Abby yawned, near sleep, just as we had hoped.

"Did Ava tell you to say that?" I asked.

Abby nodded.

I suspected just as much. I finished buckling Abby in; then ran over to Rosalie.

"Hi, nice to see you again after two seconds too," she chuckled, trying to pull me off her.

I merely clung tighter, trying to keep the welling tears from coming out of my eyes.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you don't get to cry now," she chided, even though if it were physically possible she probably would have been crying too.

A few of the hot tears fell down my face against my will. I didn't want to cry, it was just happening, there was just too many emotions in me at once.

"Didn't I just explain this to Abby? You're going to go home and see Dad, and he'll be so relieved to see you, and you'll be relieved to see him too because then you can stop worrying about him like I know you are, and you don't have to worry about Abby as much as you do either, you two are doing a wonderful job at raising her. Everything will be fine, you'll see," she said softly.

"What about you?" I asked.

"Don't you worry about me, I'll be better than before now that I can know what's going on with you girls and Dad. You have my address and everything right?"

I nodded and tapped my left pocket. I was keeping the small sheets of paper I'd received separate. Rosalie and the Blacks was on the left and Delilah was on the right.

"Then I think you're all set."

I nodded and wiped a few tears off my face as I let go.

"Bye Kelsey, I love you. Hopefully I'll see you soon."

"Bye," I managed, my voice still thick. This time it was Rosalie who couldn't keep her composure and pulled me into the final hug, but we both knew it could only last a few seconds. We could hear Jacob opening the door, ready to leave. Finally I forced myself to let go and climbed into the back seat next to Seth, who was stuck in the middle, as Jacob revved the engine and pulled out of the driveway.

I stared out the window for the first few hours before I started to get sleepy. It was still drizzling every now and then, and the clouds covering the entire sky just set the mood for a nice long nap. I sighed, moving so that Seth could be my pillow.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

I nodded.

"It's gonna be hard to leave when we get there," he said.

"It would be harder not to," I mumbled.

"I guess so," he said. He was so warm and comfy, my eyelids started to flutter and I fell asleep.

"Wake up guys, we're here," I heard Leah say.

I groggily opened my eyes and looked out the window. The sign that said "Welcome to Greenville North Dakota. Population: 24680" whizzed past us. I remembered that I had to direct Jacob through the city to our house.

"Okay, keep going and turn right on Main Street, then left on General Leclerc Avenue, then just keep going and I'll tell you which house it is. It's white with blue shutters. Slow down Jacob! If you get pulled over with two children who were reported missing five days ago in the back seat then you, Leah, and Seth are going to jail and I'll have to make up some story about how you didn't kidnap us."

"Fine…I hate going slow," he said as the speedometer went down to 45 mph.

We turned onto Main Street and Seth sighed. "Call me when you're not grounded anymore," he said, letting his head roll onto my shoulder.

"Psh, I'll call you _before_ I'm ungrounded," I said, turning my head to look at him.

"Jacob, do you mind if we make out in your car?" Seth asked.

"You've got until I find her house," Jacob grunted.

"Jacob!" Leah complained, but it was too late. Seth had started kissing me before Jacob had finished his answer.

It was a repeat of the first time, fireworks and butterflies, but it would never get old. It seemed like every time we kissed we became one, even our breaths seemed to be synchronized. We were so in our own little world we didn't even notice when Jacob announced our arrival and pulled in front of our house.

"Ow!" Seth shouted when Leah reached back smacked him on the head.

"Bye Kelsey, it was nice meeting you," Leah said, ignoring Seth.

"Yeah, if you need us you know where we live," Jacob added.

"Bye Kelsey, call me when you can. I love you," Seth said as I opened the door.

I ran around the other side and got Abby out of the car seat. She wasn't asleep, but it looked like she had been dozing. "Bye everyone! Thank you so much!" I said, giving Seth a quick peck on the cheek before I closed the door and ran down the driveway to the front porch in the now pouring rain.

Of course, the front door was locked, but that was fine. I put Abby down and pulled out the spare key, taped under the rocking chair. I opened the door and Abby went running in. I smiled when I heard Collin shout out in surprise. I gave a little wave back to the car, and closed the door behind me. Then I ran into the kitchen.

"Kelsey!" he exclaimed, grabbing me with his free arm as if I would just up and leave if he didn't, and it would seem like it. "Oh my God! I'm so glad you're okay!" he said with tears running down his face. After a long time of just holding us and telling us he loved us, maybe a half hour or so, the inevitable questions started. "Where were you?"

"I can't tell you," I said, I knew it would never work.

"Why did you go?"

"I can't tell you," I repeated.

"Who were you with?"

"I can't tell you."

"What were you doing?"

"I can't tell you."

"Is there anything you _can_ tell me?"

"Probably, but I don't know what it is."

"Are both of you okay?"

"Yes."

"Are you in trouble?"

"Only if you punish me."

He sighed and put Abby down. "Kelsey, why are you doing this to me?" he asked.

"I don't want to, but I'm not allowed to tell you. You wouldn't believe me anyway," I said, I felt fresh tears in my eyes. He hugged me again.

"What did they do to you?" he asked, his face filled with concern. He probably thought I was kidnapped, beaten, and raped or something.

"Nothing. I'm fine. Abby and I are fine and no one hurt us while we were gone and that's all you need to know."

"No! That's not okay! I need to call the authorities and tell them you're back; they'll want to know what happened and I want to know what happened too!" he said, starting to get angry.

"Do you want a story Dad? Abby and I got lost in the woods! How about that?" I said in exasperation. I could feel my temper coming back. I gripped the table to release some of the frustration.

"Now I know that didn't happen. You're wearing a different shirt than the one you were in the day you disappeared."

"How do you know?" I shouted. "It was five days ago and you were at work before I got up!"

"You put your clothes out the night before and I came in to kiss you goodbye just like every morning!"

"I didn't know you did that…" I whispered. The anger and frustration were washed away with the information and I felt my face go a little pale.

"Usually you don't wake up. Would it have changed anything if you knew that?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No Dad, this has nothing to do with you. It was a freak accident. No one's to blame."

"What kind of freak accident?" he asked, now more confused than ever.

"I can't tell you…I just can't tell you. But I can tell you that I chose to leave and if it wasn't in Abby's best interest I wouldn't have taken her, and if I could have avoided it I wouldn't have left either."

"Why won't you just tell me! If you left on your own accord then no one can make you keep it a secret!"

"There's just too many things you don't know Dad…it's just too much."

"I may not know everything, but I do know that you're grounded until you tell me what happened!"

I took a deep breath. This was the part where I'd need to control myself and take whatever he threw at me. "That's fine," I said calmly.

"You will not leave this house without me again for anything but school until I know exactly what happened."

"That's fine."

"And you won't use the phone…"

"Fine."

"Or the computer…"

"Fine."

"Until you decide it's worth telling me what happened."

"Okay…" I sighed. That wasn't so bad. I was only cut off from the rest of civilization until forever. I could live with that until he forgot about the punishment and I was able to slowly rejoin society.

"Oh…well…fine then…" Collin stammered, a little shocked he didn't get a bigger reaction out of me. "Well…go change clothes…you're soaking…then come back down and I'll get you something to eat. Are you hungry?"

"I'm always hungry. You don't even need to ask," I laughed.

"Me too! Me too!" Abby called out, giddily jumping around the kitchen.

"Okay, okay," Collin grinned. "Kelsey, despite this smile on my face I'm very angry at you, but I still love you and I'm really glad you're back home."

"I know..." I said, trying to hold back a grin of my own.

I took Abby from her excited frenzy of running in circles around whatever room we were in. As we were heading up the stairs I could hear Collin give a sigh of relief before he called the police station. I smiled a little. The familiarity of home hung everywhere and everything seemed the same, but I knew it was just an illusion. Everything had changed, and now the days would seem shorter and less exciting in comparison to what I had been through the past few days, but that was just what I was looking forward to. As the sun cast a warm glow over the rooms upstairs the solstice of my summer came to an end.

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**And so this story comes to an end. This is the first story I've ever finished, and totals 68 pages on word! I'd like to thank my cousin Shelby (ravenclawblonde1428) for encouraging me to post this and contributing ideas, my friend Megan (twilight-chick-92) for contributing ideas and allowing me to use her as a character, and all my readers for reading and, for those who reviewed, reviewing. Thank you so much! **

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**

**PS: The story doesn't REALLY stop here. If you liked this, be on the lookout for Equinox, the sequel to Solstice. It should be up soon. :)**


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